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Wine time: The Frogs - Southwark Playhouse

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For a show called The Frogs, there isn’t much amphibian activity in the piece. But being a show with music by Stephen Sondheim, you could be mistaken for thinking it’s a critical theatrical piece. But like Sondheim’s final musical playing at the National Theatre, while it may not be a musical that fills you with provocative thoughts, it’s a fast-paced romp through hell and back to save the world for the sake of arts. With rousing choruses, thrilling choreography and plenty of cheap laughs, what more can you want from the theatre? It’s currently playing at the Southwark Playhouse (Borough) . There isn’t much to the plot, except that Dionysus (Dan Buckley), disillusioned by the state of a divided world, and his sidekick and slave, Xanthias (Kevin McHale), cross the river Styx to the underworld to find a great writer who they can return to the world to teach the world about life. He has his mind set on bringing back George Bernard Shaw until he hears the poetry of Shakespeare.  This v...

Fragmented blood and lust: Written on Skin fires

Written on Skin © 2012 ROH/Stephen CummiskeyThere was style, passion and violence going around in spades at the Royal Opera's premiere of George Benjamin's new work, Written on Skin,  Friday evening.

Directed by Katie Mitchell, it is a big lavish production where angels look down on the unfolding story based upon the old fable Le Coeur Mangé (The Eaten Heart). It is a story about a powerful protector who engages an artist to create a work to celebrate his life and in doing so awakens his submissive wife. Upon discovery of this infidelity he plots his revenge.

It is a short piece of only ninety minutes with no interval, but it is perfectly formed. For an opera about despair and unlocking beauty the music is evocatively layered. There are no big arias and much wailing at times but bit by bit the music serves to build the drama and tension of the piece. By the time of the conclusion and act of revenge the production has taken you to another world of beauty and wonder.


The performances by three leads Christopher Purves as the Protector, Barbara Hannigan as his wife and Bejun Mehta as the boy are stunning and powerful. Both Purves and Hannigan had the roles written for them and it is clear this gives it a dramatic edge.

If anything Martin Crimp's libretto, which tells the story in the third person, can feel like a distraction. Instead of  being emotionally connected to the piece you find yourself left cold as it switches from the story to the present to describing the obvious. Alienation may be the intent but why hold back when everything else is so lavish and dramatic?

This opera orgasm had its world premiere at Aix En Provence in 2012 and will have a short season at the Royal Opera with four more performances... Good seats still look available for all performances...

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