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High anxiety: Collapse - Riverside Studios

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It’s a brave or maybe slightly provocative production to use Hammersmith Bridge on their artwork for a show called Collapse, which is about how everything collapses—poorly maintained bridges, relationships, and jobs. Nothing works. That’s probably too close to home for Hammersmith residents stuck with a magnificently listed and useless bridge on their front door. It gets even weirder when you realise the piece is staged in what looks like a meeting room with a bar. However, keeping things together in the most unlikely of circumstances is at the heart of Allison Moore's witty and engaging four-hander, which is currently having a limited engagement at Riverside Studios . The piece opens with Hannah (Emma Haines) about to get an injection from her husband (Keenan Heinzelmann). They’re struggling for a baby, and he’s struggling to get out of bed. But he managed to give her a shot of hormones before she started worrying about the rest of the day. She’s unsure she will keep her job with ...

Brief encounters: La Tragédie de Carmen @popupoperauk

In La Tragédie de Carmen, Popup Opera have a distilled version of Bizet’s Carmen devised by Peter Brook in the early 1980s. The gypsies are gone and all that’s left is the love triangle. And some of the best tunes...

Carmen in some ways can survive being messed about with. The Royal Opera afterall is presenting Carmen in a gorilla suit. Cutting out large chunks of the story and setting it during the Spanish Civil War makes less sense. And in the venue of the Peckham Asylum the sightlines were a bit challenging. But it still works better than expected.

Popup Opera is known for their fresh take on comic operas that tour around the country. But they are on a winner with a more dramatic piece for their autumn season. It doesn’t mess about getting to the best arias. And it helps they’ve assembled a youthful and impressive quartet to bring out the passion.

Chloe Latchmore dazzles as Carmen, using her body and her voice as the seductive and sensual woman. She holds your attention with her clear and strong vocals.

Indonesian tenor Satriya Krisna is just as imposing as Don Jose. Escamillo is an officer haunted by the war here and played by a mildly heroic James Corrigan. Rounding out the cast is Alice Privett as a strong and feisty Micaëla.

Piano accompaniment is by regular Popup Opera music director Berrak Dyer, makes it seem like you’re hearing a full orchestra, bringing out all the subtleties of Bizet’s score.

The moody lighting and projections work well in the Asylum Chapel. The location is an astonishing relic in the heart of Peckham. Even if those who sat further back missed out on some of the drama, the venue made up with it with its chilly atmosphere. Other venues the production tours to may offer better sightlines but I suspect they won’t offer better ambiance.

Directed by John Wilkie, La Tragédie de Carmen plays at various locations until 23 November. Check their website for details.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Photos by Ugo Soffientini

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