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Music: Leos Janacek Director: Nicholas Bone Musical Director: Nicholas Fletcher Reviewer: Greig Ratcliff The Public Reviews Rating: ‘The Cunning Little Vixen’ is rather an influential marker in the history of opera. First performed in 1924, its audiences were exposed to more novel operatic writing including orchestral interludes, speechless singing, mime and ballet, which broadened and expanded the concept of a modern opera. Edinburgh Studio Opera deliver a solid and vastly entertaining production of this fantastical tale, effectively communicating its conflicting themes of comedy, love and tragedy whilst paying tribute to its unique and distinctive qualities. The storyline to Janacek’s fantasy follows the tale of a wild vixen cub who is captured and forcibly kept by a forester as a pet, only to escape and live her life in the wild. As she grows into womanhood her adventures lead her to an enchanting boy fox with whom she has many cubs. Upon mocking a trap laid for her and her young by the poacher Haraschta the vixen is unexpectedly shot twice and killed, leaving her cubs running. The forester then sees the Vixen’s fur on the wife of Haraschta at the poacher’s wedding, and flees to the forest to seek solace at the place where he first met the Vixen. His grief growing, the forester mourns the loss of the Vixen before his heart is blessed with a deep peace, reassured by the circle of death inevitably leading to new life. Much credit is to be given to the creative aspects of this production, notably for their bluntly understated contributions. The set remained almost constant throughout, with just minor props added or removed between scenes to set the appropriate atmospheres, and lighting also stayed relatively steadfast with minimal changes to brightness depending on the scene. With this in mind, some …

Creators: Cupola Bobber Reviewer: Katherine Kirwin The Public Reviews Rating: Cupola Bobber are a contemporary performance male duo, comprised of Stephen Fiehn and Tyler B. Meyers, from Chicago who have brought their absurdist style to the UK, currently Manchester. The duo, by their own admission, work slowly when creating a new piece of theatre, usually allowing two years for the development of each piece before touring. This lengthy consideration and development is evident in their current work, Way Out West, the Sea Whispered To Me, in the attention to detail and the pace of the piece, which poses the question: why are people so drawn to the sea? The style of Way Out West was unashamedly absurdist, treading a fine line between pathetic illusion and co-operative illusion, inviting the audience to join them in the pretence that the blue tarpaulin was a wave crashing against the shore, that the giant piece of white tarpaulin is a cloud or is it wave, or is it just a piece of tarpaulin? The pace of Way Out West obviously evolved from a Beckett-ian sensibility, stretching moments of tension and thought until the audience could hardly bear the silence before the duo broke it with a slight of phrase, not exactly a pay-off for the silence, but persuaded the audience to seek the beauty in the delicacy of the moment; the power held by the audience to disturb the silence. Cupola Bobber’s manipulation of timing and silence was assured and confident, definitely borne out of the lengthy development process the piece had been through. Furthermore, the gentlemanly suits worn by Meyers and Fiehn seemed to be a nod to Waiting for Godot as much as inspired by the work of Gilbert & George. This piece was not without its failings, there were moments of confusion where I [...]

Writer: Terrence McNally Director: Michael Lunney Reviewer: Iris Beaumont The Public Reviews Rating: “ You never choose love. Love chooses you” was the tagline line for the 1991 film version of Frankie and Johnny. Having seen the film I was looking forward to the show with baited breathe and was unfortunately sorely disillusioned. The scene was readily and easily set, a New York apartment with a view of the Statue of Liberty from the window, A bedroom with a kitchen and bathroom leading off of it. It was a Sunday morning in March in the late 1980’s and Johnny was convinced that him and Frankie were meant to be together due to some small coincidental facts that they both seem to share. Marriage was the only way forward for him while Frankie was not so easily convinced. The apartment set which was also designed by Michael Lunney was very cleverly thought out and the backdrop truly magnificent. The Lighting by Bob Hodges was well timed and added to the whole atmosphere of the play. Kelly McGillis as Frankie gave a superb performance and even thou the role of Johnny was played by the understudy Steve Fortune, this did not detract her in any way. Steve Fortune’s performance though was distinctly average and actually came across as thou he really did not want to be there at all, his voice and projection strangely quiet and even thou I was only eight rows from the stage I struggled to hear what he had to say. Frankie & Johnny left me feeling rather empty and judging by the amount of people who never returned for the second half shows they felt the same. The production focuses too much on the bedroom and their sexual relationship and although it tried in some ways to stick to the original [...]

Music: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Libretto: Lorenzo da Ponte Director: Tim Albery Conductor: Justin Doyle Reviewer: Ruth Lovett The Public Reviews Rating: Cosi fan tutte literally translates to ‘thus do all [women]’- but is often translated to ‘women are like that’ and looks at the idea that all women are fickle and their affections can be turned easily and quickly. Act One sees two officers Ferrando (Robert Murray) and Guglielmo (Jacques Imbrailo) telling Don Alfonso (Geoffrey Dolton) that their fiancées will be eternally faithfully however Don Alfonso makes a bet with the officers that he can prove that the two women, like all other women are fickle and can have their heads turned and be seduced by two strangers. Ferrando and Guglielmo agree to the wager and disguise themselves and seduce each other’s partner. The two women, Dorabella (Victoria Simmonds) and Fiordiligi (Elizabeth Atherton) who are sisters are praising their men and are heartbroken when their lovers are called away to active service (a ploy to set the scene for the entrapment). After the soldiers have left, Don Alfonso brings Despina the maid in on the plan and she encourages the sisters to welcome the guests to the house, two moustachioed Albanians (the soldiers in disguise) who take drastic action to entice the sisters. Act Two sees Despina further encourage the sisters to give in to the men and Dorabella confesses to her sister that she is tempted and both women decide some flirtation will not be adverse while they wait for their lovers to return from war. But will the sisters give in or remain true to their fiancées? Opera North has a great reputation for staging top quality productions and Cosi does not fail to deliver. The staging designed by Tobias Hoheisel is quite spectacular with the stage dominated by a giant [...]

Writer: Philip Glass Directed by Phelim McDermott Reviewer: Lauren Rare The Public Reviews Rating: This opera charts the life and influences of Ghandi and his quest to educate people about the need for peaceful resistance as a way of attaining political ends. It explores how Tolstoy, Tagore and Luther King inspired him, and in Tolstoy’s case, actively supported him. Alan Oke’s sympathetic and sensitive portrayal of Ghandi was central to the show and he was ably supported by the rest of the heroic cast who battled gamely through this protracted opera. The music of Philip Glass is an acquired taste, and as the programme states “minimalist his music may be, but not in quantity.” I found the endless repetition of limited notes very tedious, as did much of the audience if the ever increasing number of empty seats after each act was anything to judge by. The hypnotic and over-used chanting caused at least seven people around me to fall asleep. The orchestra, conducted by Stuart Stratford, should be congratulated on masterfully plodding through this work with its incalculable repeats and very limited lyrical qualities which lasted over 3 hours. The set, which had been designed by Julian Crouch, was as spartan as the music, but used to impressive effect. A range of doors and windows opened periodically to allow cast members to enter in an array of ways, including the newspaper covering of one portal being torn apart to reveal menacing military figures who descended on ropes to take away many of the protagonists leaving Ghandi alone, grief stricken. One of the main technical features of the work involved projection of both moving and still images and texts onto newspapers held up by members of the cast, producing a simple but stunning effect. The use of newspapers, present throughout the play in [...]

Writer: Euripides Translator: Tom Paulin Music: Barbara Hockaday Director: Barrie Rutter Reviewer: Jane Dawson The Public Reviews Rating: A passionate tale of betrayal and revenge revisited here by Northern Broadsides, a company with a richly deserved reputation for making the classics accessible. The adaptation is by lyrical poet, Tom Paulin. A marriage made in heaven – so why didn’t it work? It was all slightly out of kilter, making for an uncomfortable experience. All the action – the backstory (Jason, Argo, Golden Fleece, “plunder(ing)” of Medea), the violent death of Jason’s new bride, the brutal murder of Jason and Medea’s children – takes place off stage and is related to the audience in a series of monologues. The passion was in the words, but I just didn’t feel it. An immigrant, torn away from her own country, no friends or family, abandoned by the love of her life for a younger model, discriminated against (as a woman and as a “foreigner”) but I felt no empathy whatever with Medea and her dreadful plight. Nina Kristofferson as Medea was committed to her character’s passion for destruction, but her constant sneer made it all rather trivial. The three woman chorus provided social commentary and helped keep it all on track, but also provided far too much distraction. Complete with harmonicas and saxophone, they occasionally launched into blues songs (verging on country) – this and the stilted pronouncements from King Creon and Jason (Barrie Rutter and Andrew Pollard) leaned towards the comedic. The design, on first view, was really interesting. Emma Wee’s sculptural centrepiece was stunning, echoing Jason’s famed sea voyage to claim the Golden Fleece, but it played no part until the end of the play when it turned into a chariot for Medea to escape from Corinth. These scenes provided the worst and …

Director: Dominic Champagne Composer and Musical Director: Violaine Corradi Choreographer: Michael Montanaro and Bill Shannon Reviewer: Sebastian Farrell The Public Reviews Rating: Attending your first circus is always going to be memorable, doing so at the age of 26 to arguably the world’s most successful circus company, to their production of Varekai, surrounded by soap stars and television celebrities will always make it just that little bit more special. Varekai is still a relative newcomer within Cirque du Soleil’s ever increasing arsenal of touring productions but it still remains one of its most popular and enduring. The story is very loosely based upon the Greek myth Icarus and his fall from the air whilst flying to close to the sun, the difference in Varekai is that Icarus does not fall to his untimely death in the raging sea but instead to a lush forest full of super human creatures and beings who try to show and teach him how to fly again. We start with Icarus himself getting used to life without his feathery new appendages by contorting and flying around inside what can only be described as a football net, following this, new and varying members of this strange new world take it in turn to show Icarus what they can do and in the process captivate and amaze audience members from young to old and particularly ‘new-to-the-circus 26 year olds’ like myself. We have contortionists, balancing acts, acrobatics, jugglers, clowns, and plenty of aerial performers all doing there bit to entertain us and help Icarus find his feet, or should that be wings, again. Creatively this production was outstanding, the set design by Stéphane Roy was simple and effective, a vast space for the acts to perform in surrounded by twenty foot high bamboo plants and Robin Hood-esque ladders and [...]

Composer: Tim A Duncan & Edward James Barnwell Director: Tony Mercer Reviewer: Honour Bayes The Public Reviews Rating: For the first time in 25 years the Royal Albert Hall’s stage has been transformed into an ice rink for a performance as grandiose as its historical host. With fire on ice, breathtaking moments of aerial work and enough spins and lifts to excite everyone (not just the wide eyed 9 year old girls), Cinderella on Ice is nothing if not spectacular. It has to be said that it’s hardly Shakespeare but whilst it may not ask that much of you, if you sit back and enjoy the ride it certainly is an impressive roller coaster of thrilling leaps and swirling pas de deuxs. From Disney’s iconic version to the infamous reference in Pretty Woman, the story of Cinderella is as old as time. In this re-telling director Tony Mercer has put a new spin on it, turning his Cinderella into an elegant dancer and her Prince into the dashing son of the Lord Mayor. Oh and it’s on ice. Whilst I was initially sceptical about this concept the fluidity of ice dance does seem perfectly suited to this romantic whirlwind tale. In the stunning final duet, as our hero and heroine glide around the cold square stage, the glorious sense of falling in love is powerfully evoked in their long languid strides and chiffon wrapped turns. Olga Sharutenko’s Cinderella is an innocent beauty, the dewy blueness of her clothes and gentle curve of her arms perfectly embodying the idea of soft feminine delicacy. As the Lord Mayor’s son, Andrey Penkin dazzles technically and although he comes across as somewhat of a beaming puppy one can’t really hold it against him, he is after all supposed to be charming. Whilst excellent when solo it is [...]