Featured Post

Bear with me: Sun Bear @ParkTheatre

Image
If The Light House is an uplifting tale of survival, Sarah Richardson’s Sun Bear gives a contrasting take on this. Sarah plays Katy. We’re introduced to Katy as she runs through a list of pet office peeves with her endlessly perky coworkers, particularly about coworkers stealing her pens. It’s a hilarious opening monologue that would have you wishing you had her as a coworker to help relieve you from the boredom of petty office politics.  But something is not quite right in the perfect petty office, where people work together well. And that is her. And despite her protesting that she is fine, the pet peeves and the outbursts are becoming more frequent. As the piece progresses, maybe the problem lies in a past relationship, where Katy had to be home by a particular hour, not stay out late with office colleagues and not be drunk enough not to answer his calls. Perhaps the perky office colleagues are trying to help, and perhaps Katy is trying to reach out for help. It has simple staging

Sex and violence: Cavalleria Rusticana & Pagliacci @RoyalOperaHouse

Things take a gritty and violent turn in the Royal Opera's new production of  the short operas Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci. 
With its sumptuous music and a production that moves the action to recent times, the melodrama and violence seem so palpable. 

Cavalleria Rusticana never lets up with its fast-paced plot set over Easter Sunday in a small Sicilian village. Turiddu returns from military service  only to find his true love Lola has married the local powerful man, Alfio, while he was away. He seduces local girl Santuzza but abandons her when he starts to have an illicit affair with Lola. Santuzza then has to decide how to reclaim her future.

The ladies stand out in these pieces. Eva-Maria Westbroek as Santuzza gives this piece a dramatic fire with her intense and rich portrayal of a woman scorned. She is no match for the light and playful Lola (played by Martina Belli). The production underscores her plight during the Easter Procession where the Virgin Mary comes to life and points at her as the condemned woman.  Elena Zilio as Turiddu's mother Lucia also has a standout performance as a woman resigned to her fate. 
Meanwhile in Pagliacci, the story unfolds at a slower pace. The contrast with what has gone before makes it less satisfying... Until all the elements come together for its thrilling (albeit gruesome) climax. The story revolves around actor Canio, who discovers his wife Nedda has been unfaithful. And they are about to enact a comic play about a silly man who is married to an adulteress. Despite high emotions, the show must go on. 
Carmen Giannattasio as Nedda captures her fiestiness and her contradictions. Doubling for both performances, Aleksandrs Antonenko as Turriddu and as Canio gives a dark interpretation of these men. Dimitri Platanias as Alfio and as Tonio also provides malevolence with his rich baritone. 
With large forces summoned, the orchestra under conductor Antonio Pappano sounds lush and dramatic. The other star of the evening is the Royal Opera Chorus. Both works have significant choral scenes that underscore the drama. A particular highlight being the Easter Hymn in Cavalleria Rusticana. 
Director Damiano Michieletto and set designer Paolo Fantin, who received mixed reviews with their first Royal Opera show Guillaume Tell, still received a few jeers  on opening night. But drowning out the purists (or should that be Puritans?) were cheers throughout the house. It was well deserved given the thoughtful update that underscored the drama, without being a distraction. 
Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci run through to 1 January. On 10 December it will be broadcast in cinemas and on 6 February 2016 it will be broadcast on BBC radio 3. 
Photo credits: Production photos by Catherine Ashmore

Popular posts from this blog

Opera and full frontal nudity: Rigoletto

Image
David McVicar's oddly modern production of Rigoletto is back at the Royal Opera House . This modern and minimalist dark production has evolved over the years. It is better lit now but there is still an orgy and full frontal nudity within the first thirty minutes. This enables anyone not in the stalls an excellent view of a flaccid penis and a nicely shaved bush. But as time goes it seems more and more superfluous to the main focus of this tragedy of a court jester who seeks revenge. Here is hoping that the production continues to evolve... Conductor John Eliot Gardiner keeps the music well paced. Dimitri Platanias in the title role sounded great and received a rapturous applause for his interpretation of the role. You get a sense more of the doting father rather than the court jester or cursed man here. Vittorio Grigolo plays the Duke and sounds too lovely to be the cad the role calls for, but it is hard not to like when he is on stage anyway. And it is easier to understan
Read more...

Fantasies: Afterglow @Swkplay

Image
Nowadays no self-respecting gay play can be staged without full frontal nudity of some kind. It feels like the default response for the modern gay play now that gay rights are no longer an issue .   Afterglow, currently playing at Southwark Playhouse , serves it up in spades. From the beginning, three men are in a bed, naked. There’s what appears to be a very brief exhalation of ecstasy, before the obligatory rush to the shower. But the gratuitous nudity and excellent performances can’t conceal this is a pretty conventional and predictable story about a fantasy couple.  The three men in the simultaneous orgasm at the start of the piece are Josh, Alex and Darius. Josh and Alex seem to live in a New York world where they can afford a rooftop apartment in Manhattan while holding jobs as a theatre director and a grad student in chemistry. As writer S. Asher Gelman based it on his own experiences, perhaps gay plays with full frontal nudity are the way to achieve financial security
Read more...

Play ball: Damn Yankees @LandorTheatre

Image
Damn Yankees at the Landor Theatre is one hell of a fun, sexy show. A great cast of dancers and singers give this show about a man who sells his soul to get on his beloved baseball team (and give them a chance of winning) new legs and balls. It also helps to up the ante with the sexiness with some healthy doses of cleavage and legs (and that's just the men). The musical is a retelling of the Faust story set in the 1950s when the New York Yankees dominated the game.
Read more...