La tragédie de Carmen includes elements of the Georges Bizet opera as well as the original Prosper Mérimée novella on which Bizet’s opera was based. Brook adapted the script with academy award-winning screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière, re-examining it from a new perspective. The original score was adapted for a chamber orchestra by Marius Constant and the show premiered in Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord, Paris in November 1981.