Making sense of The Magic Flute..... The Queen of the Nights father owned the land that the The Blue Flamingo cafe was built on, prime real estate in Paris in the 1930’s, but he knew that his daughter was a ‘bad egg’ and so left the deeds of the property in trust to his granddaughter, Pamina, thereby skipping a generation. In the meantime it is held in trust by his son in law, Sarastro. He is to maintain the property and the business until Pamina comes of age at 18.
The Queen of the Night has sent Pamina to retrieve the deeds, saying that she will give them to her on her forthcoming 18th birthday but Pamina has not returned to her mother and so she is looking for someone to go and persuade Pamina to return. Her ladies in waiting come upon the young Tamino, a foolish young man searching for love who instantly falls in love with Paminas picture and agrees to go and find her. They all send with her the somewhat jaded, life weary, Papageno to chaperone him. Papageno is also looking for love but has had no luck!
Throughout the performance, we are shown that Saratstro does not believe in fate/destiny, but that we all make our own luck etc...He lives life by the flip of a coin; he is in control, he manipulates his establishment so that he is always ‘the winner’. Pamina is learning that he is not the bad man that her mother has led her to believe he is and that she has to make her own decisions in life and not be controlled by her mother.
By the end of our story, and after many adventures and trials, Pamina has found what she wants in life, Tamino, and she turns her back on the property and her inheritance, to make a new life with him. The stage is left empty with only the Queen of the Night and Saratsro on stage. Pamina, as she leaves, tells them that they have to sort it out between them and that maybe, considering their life styles, the decision should be made on the toss of a coin.
She hands the coin that her father gave her back to Sarastro, sure that he will win the toss.