Butterfly with Wings
Madama Butterfly
by Giacomo Puccini, libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa
Sembla and Ellen Kent Productions at Richmond Theatre until 15th March, then on tour until 6th May
Review by Mark Aspen
Madama Butterfly must surely be one of the most moving of Puccini’s well-known operas, in its overarching theme of trust betrayed and the raw emotion of its tragic ending, it leaves even the most hard-hearted touched to tears. However, even the pathos of this most poignant of endings was magnified when director-producer Ellen Kent’s new touring production visited Richmond Theatre. At the curtain call, the cast broke out the Ukrainian flag and sang the Ukrainian national anthem to the proud music of the orchestra. The soloists are mostly Ukrainian and its orchestra the Orchestra of the Ukrainian National Opera and Ballet Theatre, Kyiv, under the baton of Ukrainian conductor Vasyl Vasylenko. Never could there have been such an enthusiastic response from an audience, who rose to their feet as a single body.
Nevertheless, even if were not for the heightened circumstances of a horrific war, this artistic integrity of this Madama Butterfly stands on its own as a piece of operatic exquisiteness. It is a literal interpretation true to Puccini’s intentions that points up the music and poetry of the piece.
Read more…True Minds
Shakespeare in Love, the Play
by Lee Hall, based on the screenplay by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard
Teddington Theatre Club at Hampton Hill Theatre until 19th March
Review by Celia Bard
The film, Shakespeare in Love, was one I very much enjoyed, and I wondered how well the screenplay would translate into a playscript. By the end of this production I was in no doubt. Lee Hall has opened the door into the world of theatre and invited audiences to marvel at the antics of an Elizabethan theatrical company planning its next production. Hall has produced a masterpiece that draws on an intimate knowledge of Elizabethan England, Shakespeare and his plays, and the rivalries that beset Shakespeare’s theatre, the Globe and that other theatre, The Rose. The action in Shakespeare in Love, the Play, is often chaotic, but there is also love – both tender and vociferous, comedy that makes you chortle and pathos that draws on the heartstrings. Expect also to be mesmerised by the Elizabethan convention of cross-dressing, mistaken identity and comic subplots. Award yourself points if you succeed in identifying the number of different plays, characters, important personages of the period, referred to in this play.
Read more…Sultry Spanish Seduction
Carmen
by Georges Bizet, libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy
Sembla and Ellen Kent Productions at Richmond Theatre until 14th March, then on tour until 8th May
Review by Claire Alexander
Richmond Theatre was packed last night to see Ellen Kent’s production of Bizet’s Carmen. Richmond may only be a tube ride from the grand opera houses of central London but this is a rare opportunity to see top class opera on your own doorstep.
When I opened the programme to see that the orchestra was the Orchestra of the Ukrainian National Opera and Ballet Theatre, Kiev, and the conductor (Vasyl Vasylenko) their artistic director, and most of the singers either Ukrainian, Moldovan and even Russian, the evening suddenly achieved a new poignancy. And so somehow did the story of Carmen and Don Jose’s fatal choice between duty and family.
Read more…All the Fun of the Fair
Così Fan Tutte
by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte
English National Opera at the London Coliseum until 22nd March
Review by Andrew Lawston
Against a glittering golden curtain, a rousing rendition of Ukraine’s National Anthem brings the audience together before Così fan tutte has even begun.
This revival of director Phelim McDermott’s 2014 production of Mozart’s comic opera begins with a flourish that sets a playful tone for the evening, as the skills ensemble of sword swallowers, contortionists, fire-eaters, and acrobats take turns to climb from Don Alfonso’s surprisingly capacious trunk onto the Coliseum’s forestage.
As the carnivalesque ensemble melt into the background of a bar in a faded recreation of 1950s Coney Island, Don Alfonso begins to harangue his two young friends Guglielmo and Ferrando about the essential duplicity of women.
Read more…Troll Models
Snow White
by Ben Crocker
Questors at the Judi Dench Playhouse, Ealing until 27th March
Review by Nick Swyft
What did you miss at Christmas? Was it the song and dance, men dressed as women and women dressed as men? Was it cries of ‘he’s behind you!’ and the riotous audience participation? Was it a classic tale of an oppressed child making good in the end? Due to pandemic restrictions Questors lost the chance to give us all this. Nevertheless, undeterred, they gave us an excellent and colourful panto for spring (not yet Easter).
Read more…Poignancy Propelled
Letters and Longings
by Emma Louise Tinniswood
Step on Stage Performing Arts at Hampton Hill Theatre, until 5th March
Review by Heather Moulson
We sat down to a curtain-less set, with a pensive blue backdrop, that was simple yet effective. The dramatic lighting by Ken Lau, and the sleek direction by Emma Louise Tinniswood brought this dark, vibrant piece alive, with predominately white costumes whose simplicity matched the mood of this grim era. Each scene was striking in its own way with tableaux from talented young actors from Step on Stage Performing Arts.
Beautifully Choreographed Chaos
Cluedo
by Sandy Rustin
Kilimanjaro Theatricals at Richmond Theatre until 12th March, then tour continues until 15th July
Review by Eleanor Lewis
An apt response while applauding the bows at the conclusion of Cluedo would probably be, “What just happened?” A reasonable answer would be “I don’t care, whatever it was it was thoroughly entertaining!”
Read more…Austentation
Persuasion
by Jane Austen, adapted by Jeff James, with James Yeatman
Rose Original Productions, in association with Oxford Playhouse, at the Rose Theatre, Kingston until 19th March
Review by Gill Martin
Spoiler alert: if you are expecting crinoline, ringlets and Regency ballrooms when Jane Austen reaches the stage hold onto your bonnets. It’s more bikinis, blonde manes and disco action in this adaptation of Persuasion at Kingston’s Rose Theatre.
The romantic comedy has taken a leap from the 19th Century’s measured society to a riotous reimagining fit for the 21st.
Read more…Quibbles with Nibbles
An Hour and a Half Late
by Gérald Sibleyras with Jean Dell, adapted by Belinda Lang
PW Productions, Theatre Royal Bath Productions and Sam Julyan at Richmond Theatre, until 5th March, then on tour until 9th April
Review by Melissa Syversen
If you are looking for a pleasant way to spend an evening without committing to anything running too late into the night, something too serious, or resorting to yet another Netflix series for some light entertainment, An Hour and A Half Late might just be the play for you. And as the title suggests, the runtime of this “sitcom-on-stage” is a pleasant hour and a half straight through, no interval. You can get an evening out but can still also enjoy the simple pleasure of being in bed by a sensible 10pm.
An Hour and a Half Late premiered at Bath Theatre Royal and is originally a French play by Gérald Sibleyras and Jean Dell. For the revival it has been neatly directed and adapted by Belina Lang, who herself played the female lead in 2006.
Catch Me If You Can
Pay the Piper
by Anna Appleby, Ninfea Cruttwell-Reade, Cecilia Livingston and Ailie Robertson, libretto by Hazel Gould
Glyndebourne Youth Opera at Glyndebourne Festival Theatre until 27th February
Review by Mark Aspen
“Recollections may vary”. This one year-old phrase of diplomacy is now well established in our collective memory. It is a truism that frames the approach to a retelling of the Pied Piper of Hamelin folk tale, in Glyndebourne’s bold and innovative new opera, Pay the Piper, premiering in an enthralling production with its Youth Opera. Each of four protagonists, The Piper, The Mayor, A Mother and The Lonely Child Tam, tell us, “I will tell the story … This is what I remember … This is what I know is true…”
Thus we have a multi-faceted view of the narrative that reflects the nature of the musical score, which has four composers working in collaboration. This is highly unusual in any musical genre, and must be unique to opera. To this particular first, Pay the Piper adds two other firsts for Glyndebourne, the use of puppetry and the non-use of the theatre’s stage.
Read more…
Mark Aspen 