The Minotaur, Royal Opera, Covent Garden, January 2013

The opening night of this revival ended with a tribute to John Tomlinson for 35 years of wonderful service to the ROH — highly appropriate since composer Harrison Birtwistle has said Tomlinson was the key to writing this opera, which had been brewing in his mind for many years.

The Innocents arrive, all images ROH/ Bill Cooper

The first scene shows Christine Rice as Ariadne on the beach with a heaving sea projected on the backdrop, and the opera ends with Elisabeth Meister’s bloodcurdling scream as the Ker, seeing the Minotaur dead and her share of future victims vanish. In the meantime Ariadne has revealed that as the daughter of Minos and his wife Pasiphae, whom Theseus calls “whore to the bull of the sea”, she is half-sister to the Minotaur, whom Theseus has come to kill him so as to save future Athenian innocents from further death. She tricks him into letting the present twelve go first, and Act I ends with their massacre. Susana Gaspar as the first innocent was particularly good here, lying in wounded agony before the winged Keres come to pluck out her heart.

In the second act Johan Reuter as Theseus reveals that he may be the son of Poseidon, and if Poseidon was indeed the bull of the sea then he is half-brother to the Minotaur. The important dichotomy between Theseus and Ariadne however, is that while he wants to get into the labyrinth, she wants to get out of Crete. Needing to bring him back from the centre she consults the oracle at Psychro, who gives her the ball of twine despite her lying about her true intentions, and after making Theseus promise to accompany her away from the island the stage is now set for the final denouément.

The Minotaur

Birtwistle’s opera, with this clever production by Stephen Langridge, designs by Alison Chitty and lighting by Paul Pyant, works wonders with the story and with the Minotaur himself, shown to be both man and beast. Presaging his first appearance a wall of sound is followed by two tubas in unison, along with contrabass clarinet and contrabass bassoon. The music is fascinating, its permanent state of melody a metaphor for the labyrinth. And David Harsent’s libretto is a masterpiece of concision and clarity drawing us through the story.

The duality between man and beast is cleverly expressed through lines such as, “When I go to sleep does the man sleep first, when I awake does the beast wake first?” The Minotaur speaks only in his dreams, and when he dreams he sees himself, he sees Ariadne, he even sees Theseus, appearing through a mirror with him. He thinks of his life, his failings, his sorrows, in each case calling them “all too human”. When Theseus arrives he recognises him from the dream, and reflects on his predicament of being both man and beast. “The beast is vile, so the man must go unloved. The beast can’t weep, so the man must go dry-eyed. The beast is wounded, so the man must die”. We begin to understand the man-beast, hidden away in the labyrinth as a child. It’s a great opera, the only surprise being that it has yet to be produced anywhere else since first appearing at the ROH in April 2008.

Tomlinson, Johan Reuter, and Christine Rice repeated their wonderful performances from five years ago, and Elisabeth Meister sang an excellent Ker, with Andrew Watts and Alan Oke taking over the roles of snake priestess and her medium Hiereus. The priestess herself rises to a great height, looking like those famous chthonic deities from Knossos, a nice touch.

The lyrical wonder of Birtwistle’s music, combined with lines of sheer terror, was brilliantly conducted by Ryan Wigglesworth on this occasion, and if you went in 2008, go again, particularly with tickets at such low prices for this thrillingly deep opera.

Performances continue until January 28 — for details click here.

Antony and Cleopatra, Chichester Festival Theatre, CFT, September 2012

At the start of this production Cleopatra stands in a long golden gown with her back to the audience, and before committing suicide towards the end she appears in the identical position. Thus was framed Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, brilliantly served by Peter McKintosh’s fine designs and beautiful lighting by Paul Pyant. The split-level, with ladders leading from upper to lower, assisted rapid changes of scene as we move between Egypt and Rome, and sound effects by Sebastian Frost were excellent.

Antony in Egypt, all images Georgia Oetker

The comparatively long hair for Antony and his chief aide Enobarbus gave them a slightly alien air compared to other Romans, like colonial officers gone native, and Michael Pennington made full use of his wonderful voice in the role of Antony. As Octavius Caesar, Martin Hutson gave a wonderfully convincing performance showing a leader taking pains to be reasonable while keeping clear of messy entanglements, and his careful cleaning of the edge of a barrel before sitting on it in the drunken scene was a nice touch. In the small role of his sister Octavia, Ruth Everett was outstanding, and as the understudy for Cleopatra it would have been very interesting to see her perform that role. As it was we had American actress Kim Cattrall who came good in the end though her mercurial and manipulative histrionics at the start were unattractive, and there was little chemistry between her and Antony.

Cleopatra

It’s difficult to know whether this was partly due to a lack of focus by director Janet Suzman, and whether better direction might have helped Ian Hogg in the important role of Antony’s right hand man Enobarbus. His speeches lacked clarity and conviction, and the important turning point when he decides to switch sides came and went with little impact. Martin Herdman as Lepidus, the third member of the triumvirs, was excellent in the drunk scene, and there were some fine performances in smaller roles, with Jack Bannell very strong as the Roman officer Proculeius, and Offue Okegbe giving a sympathetic portrayal of the eunuch Mardian at Cleopatra’s court.

Octavius Caesar

In the end my main impression was of Michael Pennington’s Antony as a tragic figure, and Martin Hutson as the sure-footed young Octavius (he was 32 when Antony died) who will later become Caesar Augustus, while Cleopatra seemed more of a catalyst for these historical figures rather than a fascinating and intelligent woman in her own right.

Performances continue until September 29 — for details click here.

The Master Builder, Almeida Theatre, Islington, London, November 2010

As the audience took their seats, one man sat alone on an almost bare stage. This was Halvard Solness, Master Builder, who worries about falling from the heights of his own success. Solness is the principal architect of his own building company, which he runs with a driving force and ruthless determination, while using and abusing others. One of these is the old man Knut Brovik, whose company he took over, another is Knut’s son Ragnar whose talents as an architect he refuses to recognise, and then there’s Knut’s fiancée Kaja who works for him, and adores him. At first we think there is some sexual liaison between Solness and Kaja — certainly his wife suspects it — but he happily accepts that guilt as a substitute for a far deeper guilt. Mrs. Solness is a sad and lonely woman who once lost her family home in a fire, later lost her baby sons, and now does her “duty” with little joy or enthusiasm.

Gemma Arterton with Stephen Dillane, photos by Simon Annand

Solness has helped crush the dreams of several people, but this narcissistic man suddenly meets his match in Hilde Wangel, a young woman who hikes in from the wild, declaring he knew her once, kissed her and promised her a kingdom. She was brilliantly played by Gemma Arterton, portraying her as very attractive, assertive and a bit of a minx. She charms everyone, and is the one character in this performance who is quite obviously crazy. But isn’t Solness crazy too? He was played by Stephen Dillane as a down to earth man who knows his limitations, yet is too easily enamoured of Hilde. I would have preferred a more nuanced portrayal of his character: greater imperiousness at the start, followed by a gradual descent into confusion as he succumbs to Hilde’s insane dreams. How else is one to explain his extraordinary decision at the end to do something that everyone knows is impossible for him?

John Light as Ragnar

Among the rest of the cast, Jack Shepherd was very good as the sympathetic doctor, Patrick Godfrey was convincing and entirely reasonable as Knut, the fatally ill father, and John Light was superb as Ragnar his son, coming into his own towards the end when he’s ready to defy Solness. Emma Hamilton gave a fine portrayal of Kaja, and Anastasia Hille showed Mrs. Solness to be a sad, dutiful wife, suddenly at sixes and sevens when guests arrive while she wants to run to her husband to stop him climbing the scaffolding. But when she talked to Hilde about losing her precious dolls in the fire, saying “they were alive in my heart”, there was little of the powerfully repressed emotion that I expected. The spark needed to bring Solness and his wife to life seemed lacking, so the performance revolved very much around Gemma Arterton, who brought a magnetic personality to the role of Hilde, exhibiting the charm and life that this deranged young woman brings to the Solness household.

The translation of Ibsen by Kenneth McLeish felt entirely natural, and this production by Travis Preston, with minimalist designs by Vicki Mortimer, packed everything into an hour and three-quarters with no interval. With excellent lighting by Paul Pyant, this should have been a more intense experience than it was, but I attended a preview and perhaps things will warm up later in the run.

This production continues until 8 January 2011 — for details click here.

The Winter’s Tale, at the Old Vic, June 2009

This delightful Shakespeare play is being produced along with Chekhov’s Cherry Orchard as part of The Bridge Project using a mix of British and American actors.

It was given an excellent production by Sam Mendes. It is about the destructive suspicions of King Leontes who accuses his heavily pregnant wife, Hermione of adultery with King Polixenes, a visitor for the past nine months. A courtier, Camillo is ordered to poison Polixenes, but believing in the queen’s innocence he warns him to leave, and they flee together. The baby daughter is then abandoned in the wild, where she is found and brought up by a shepherd, and given the name Perdita. Sixteen years later, Polixenes’s son, disguised as a shepherd, meets her and they fall in love. When Polixenes rages against his son’s match, the couple flee to Leontes’s court, followed by the shepherd bringing tokens of Perdita’s true identity, directed by an engaging rogue named Autolycus. Leontes already knows of his wife’s innocence from the Oracle at Delphi, and a statue of her has recently been completed at the house of Paulina, the widow of the courtier who originally took the baby girl into the wild and was himself eaten by a bear. Polixenes and Camillo arrive, and after matters relating to Perdita are settled, Paulina shows the assembled company a great wonder. The new statue of Hermione comes to life, after which Paulina and Camillo, who had both believed in her innocence, become engaged, and everyone celebrates the miracle.

The role of Leontes was brilliantly played by Simon Russell Beale, with Rebecca Hall elegantly portraying his wife. Paul Jesson was a convincing Camillo, and Sinead Cusack a wonderfully sympathetic Paulina. Polixenes, Perdita, and Polixenes’s son were all well portrayed by Josh Hamilton, Morven Christie, and Michael Brown, and the shepherd was delightfully played by Richard Easton. Autolychus was superbly performed by Ethan Hawke, and his singing added just the right colour.

The entire production was a delight, and the simple sets by Anthony Ward and modern costumes by Catherine Zuber allowed the actors to dominate the stage, which they did very well, aided by Paul Pyant’s lighting design that used spots and darkness to very good effect. This is part of the Bridge project, with a mixed cast of American and British actors, each using their own accents, and the performance came over very naturally. An excellent Winter’s Tale for the summer months.