The production casts African American singers Deborah Nansteel as Teresa and Lawrence Brownlee as Elvino in select performances, roles of Swiss villagers canonically portrayed as white in the opera's source material and prior productions.

The production frames family relationships and impending marriage within a repressive, puritanical village community that enforces conformity and traditional gender roles, portraying them as stifling to individual freedom. Amina's sleepwalking serves as a subconscious rebellion against these norms, ultimately leading to her escape and self-realization over adherence to familial and societal expectations.

The production sets the story in a Calvinist Swiss village where the community's fundamentalist values enforce rigid social norms that oppress the sleepwalking protagonist Amina, portraying Christianity as a confining force that suppresses personal freedom and worldly curiosity.