The Coronation of Poppea (English National Opera)

Just for once can't they do an opera in togas? Would that be so hard? Anyway, in Chen Shi-Zheng's new production Rome is relocated onto a boat and (apparently) underwater. I still don't quite know why. It gives good opportunities to put Kate Royal in a tiny bikini and loads of silly flying effects but not much else.

The incredibly young cast sing reasonably well although not without fault. Tim Mead's projection was fairly terrible and his diction not much better. Something must be going wrong when I need to read the surtitles for a production in English. Anna Grevelius sings Nerone nicely enough but there is zero chemistry between her and Royal. Royal herself, despite the aforementioned costumes, is remarkably unsexy. The whole production is about sexual intrigue and yet the sexual chemistry between the characters was absent. Lucy Crowe takes top honours (out of the young cast) with both the best singing and acting performance as the wronged Drusilla. Robert Lloyd showed what experience means with a performance of great gravitas and power.

The staging was bare apart from loads of underwater videos pasted across the back screen. Assistance came from Malaysian dancers who were so truly out of place they were actually quite funny. Quite why they are present is never really explained but they move props about well enough. Most incongruous bit of staging was definitely Ottavia, who navigated the stage on a giant white pumpkin.

The singing here largely redeems what is otherwise a bizarre and I have no doubt very expensive staging. Let's hope they just stick them in togas and make them sing next time. In the current climate, that would be original.

The Ring Cycle (Royal Opera)

This is a puzzling production indeed. Seeing just one of the four parts you’d think it was directed by a complete nut job. Having seen the full cycle (albeit in slightly the wrong order) I still by and large think it’s a bit of a mess, but there are glimmers of genius. Maybe after several repeat viewings more of Keith Warner’s ideas would become apparent but I, like pretty much everybody else, haven’t had a chance for that. Every part is packed with dozens of images; some work, others don’t and some are just plain distracting. They do however almost uniformly manage one thing, to distract from the awesome inspiringly brilliant music that Wagner spent his life writing.

Rheingold is probably the worst of the lot. It's riddled with totally bizarre objects, ropes, ladders…apparently everything the props department could find. It just left me wondering what on earth everything meant, which wouldn’t have mattered except it got in the way of Wagner’s own ideas. Why was the Rheingold shaped like a brain? Why does Wotan randomly start playing chess? Why do the gods in all their majesty enter Valhalla via ladders? To his credit Warner does stick with his symbols and many recur throughout the cycle, such that whilst the model plane is confusing here, it does come together in Siegfried. No marks for dramatic intensity however, Warner plays this for laughs. Alberich’s transformations are hysterical (this isn’t a good thing) and as I mentioned earlier the gods ascent to Valhalla is laughable at best. John Tomlinson, who makes for a truly epic Wotan overall, is weakest in Rheingold because whilst his age becomes a great strength when he becomes the Wanderer, I couldn’t buy him as a virile, manly god. Philip Langridge looks perfect as Loge, the wily demi-god of fire, although he is perhaps a little friendly for the ambiguously allied Loge. He unsurprisingly sings more or less perfectly. The Rheinmaidens, despite being saddled with some truly unattractive costumes (when they’re lucky enough to be given anything to wear at all), sing nicely with Sarah Fox standing out as Woglinde. Peter Sidhom makes for a particularly repellent Alberich, probably the best acting performance and no slouch in the vocal department either.

Die Walküre was abysmally staged but had the strongest of the singing. Portraying Hunding’s hut as a big red box with a ceiling fan was supposed to tell us what? The Valkyries ran about like banshees with horses' skulls and severed limbs whilst some apparently random battle footage was projected above them. The Final Act was staged with the most restraint and as a result was the strongest. The ignition of the fire about Brünnhilde was particularly spectacular. Again nul point for drama with the climax of act II shoddily staged. It puzzles me how Warner actually managed to achieve such a dearth of drama when the music (being played superbly I might add) holds such power. Simon O’Neill and Eva-Maria Westbroek both gave impeccable performances as the Wälsung twins. Lisa Gasteen makes for a more than decent Brünnhilde but she waivers in places. The Valkyries themselves were a disappointment with far too much shrieking and not nearly enough diction, I can’t imagine all the running about they’re made to do is much help. Tomlinson is a potent force here, elegantly portraying Wotan’s slow loss of control.

Siegfried has some of the best and worst of this cycle. Finally Warner’s ideas seem to be coming together with reappearance of the plane crashed across Mime’s lab which is also suggestive of a run down version of Alberich’s (Mime’s brother) lab from Rheingold. However Fafner, in dragon form, probably wins hands down, for most ridiculous prop. How anyone at the Royal Opera thought that a big head on wheels was going to work I have no idea. Not that there isn’t some competition for that award. Why the pedalo animals and elevated patch of grass? The mind boggles. The singing was also very variable. Whilst Gerhard Siegel makes for a terrific Mime, John Treleaven is underpowered as Siegfried. Treleaven looks perfect, his mannerisms perfect. He’s just doesn’t have the firepower to get through the whole opera. The love duet at the very end is particularly poor, with Gasteen giving her weakest performance as well. Gasteen completely misses several of her higher notes and Treleaven is unable to project over the orchestra. Jane Henschel sings beautifully as Erda, showing her immense experience to the fullest, but her enormous high chair is absurd and the manner of her death is hysterical (again not really what I was hoping for). The saving grace is Tomlinson who gives an unbelievably perfect performance as the crumbling Wotan. As his spear breaks you feel the weight of the world crashing on his shoulders, I could eulogise all day, he was just that good.

Remarkably Götterdämmerung is probably the easiest to follow, a result of a lot of the earlier clutter being removed. There are far fewer ropes, coils and other assorted objects here. We even get a fairly solid, naturalistic bank of the Rhine. Another boon to this production, which may have come about by accident, was the reflective back wall. This allowed the audience to see a reflection of Pappano conducting. Seeing his very real excitement throughout the act was invigorating in a way that most of the stuff happening on stage couldn’t compare with. He commanded the orchestra to great things. Thankfully the singing here is good across the board. Gasteen gives her finest performance with assured acting right up to her belly flop into the fire, another bit of shoddy staging (I blame Warner). Treleaven manages better here as well with a particularly wonderful performance as he recounts his finding of Brünnhilde. James Moellenhoff certainly looks the part as the thoroughly evil Hagen, but his singing didn’t always fill me with the dread that is expected. It wasn’t his fault but his continuous presence at the front of the stage was distracting not illuminating, just because he’s the architect of many of the conflicts in Götterdämmerung doesn‘t mean he can‘t scheme elsewhere. The Gibichung siblings were acceptable although Peter Coleman-Wright didn’t always project well. The conclusion was thankfully quite well staged with the gods downfall portrayed through the burning of their statues. The final image of a small girl in a ring, had a strange power to it, although I didn’t feel like the rest of the cycle had led up to it.

I don’t think this is a cycle that is going to be remembered particularly fondly. The singing was more than good enough but there were just too many half baked ideas flying around. One thing I thought I’d sussed was the presence of all the red rope throughout each part. I’d assumed this was some clever fate symbol and that the Norns were going to be weaving it at the start of Götterdämmerung. But they had a weird neon rope (albeit red), so I’m back at square one as to what all the rope was about. To be honest even after Götterdämmerung I was in this position with most things. I don’t buy the rubbish that Warner’s written in the programme especially the stuff about sexual tension and fans, he’s got to have something better…surely.

Götterdämmerung

Just polished off the ROH's Ring Cycle so I'll be delivering a rambling epic of my own in response. Whilst it won't take me the 26 years Wagner took, it will take me till tomorrow.

La Bayadère (Royal Ballet)

This is a sumptuous feast for the senses. I don't think I've seen a stronger overall performance from the Royal Ballet for quite a while. This staging is lavish, with stunning sets and endless supplies of vibrant costumes (although most of the female ones didn't require much material). The dancing was beyond impressive.

Carlos Acosta was on excellent form and this role was made for a dancer like him. He attains amazing elevation in all his leaps, his lifting, with both partners, was effortless despite some being seriously difficult. Whatsmore he actually injects some decent acting into the mix. Tamara Rojo managed to break several physical laws, managing a mind bending number of rotations with apparent ease. She too managed to act well, making even the rubber snake passably effective. Marianela Nuñez completed the love triangle with a display of sexy, sensual dancing. She'd make most men (myself included) go weak at the knees, and she has a very real edge making her murderous intents perfectly believable.

Minkus' music is never going to be deemed anything other than complete rubbish in musical terms (sounds like circus music far too often) but it is still the best, bad ballet score around. The leads have plenty of opportunity to show off, which they do very well, and there are a fair number of company dances specifically the Shades in act II. Top marks all round for that sequence which was perfectly in sync. The only weak dancing came in the pas d'action of the first act. However considering the number of last minute replacements in this sequence, the various culprits can be forgiven their sins.

This ballet has got pretty much everything. It does need phenomenal dancers, but it has them, so what's not to love?

The Country Wife

Venturing into that most bizarre of events, the midweek matinee, was always going to be interesting. Having waded through the entire octogenarian population of London to get to my seat, tripping over the various limbs of a gentleman who resolutely refused to stand (he may not have been capable), I found the assault course to be well worth it.

This is the funniest play I've seen in some time. The acting is simply spectacular with Toby Stephens baring all (oh so literally) to portray a braggart who's pretending to be a eunuch in order to gain access to the wives of every man in London. Somehow this seems to make sense, or at least the cast convince you it makes sense and it sets up a piece of lewd farce. David Haig continues to stake his claim as the greatest farceur currently operating with a perfectly pitched performance. Few others can check their pulse and get a laugh.

The staging is exquisite with a brightly coloured revolving set and ostentatiously old fashioned painted forest. Jonathan Kent never lets the pace flag with quick soliloquies covering the set changes. There is no established period with a mixed of styles which is in itself no problem but I found the car sound effects and other modern touches to be unnecessary confusions adding little to the piece. Top marks for the period music including a hysterical arrangement of "Girls just wanna have fun" (which I suspect no one in this crowd got).

This is the first show from the new "Theatre Royal Haymarket Company" and if the next two plays in their first season are anywhere near as good as this, I suspect they'll be around for a while.

Romeo and Juliet (Royal Ballet)

When I first heard that the Royal Ballet was to replace Johan Kobborg with Steven McRae I was a little alarmed. He's young and whilst promising I didn't think he was quite ready yet. Romeo is a seriously hard role. After last night I've certainly reconsidered although it wasn't the tour de force, breakout performance some (more optimistic) people were expecting. The first act was ideal for him as the young, romantic Romeo. He had an easy youthful exuberance. Alina Cojocaru as Juliet, was simply divine. Their first meeting at the party was perfect, somehow their instant love made sense. The balcony scene was beautiful with a very real chemistry between the stars (perfect height match as well which bodes well for the future). McRae looked a little insecure in a couple of lifts but Cojocaru clearly had faith in him as she threw herself about with a wild abandon.

With Act II McRae began to falter. Whilst his dancing was probably more assured, especially in the Mandolin solo, he failed to capture that terrible anger that would lead him to take revenge on his friend's killer. He had all the grimacing and shaking but his movement still seemed too measured, it just wasn't particularly compelling.

The third act began incredibly well with Romeo and Juliet's return to youthful love, albeit now with a twinge of impossibility. They were near perfect in their partnering. The inevitable climax was unfortunately underpowered. McRae totally failed to capture that desperate need for Juliet that would lead him to take his own life. Cojocaru did better but the emotional vice was never quite exerted on the audience, there were lots of dry eyes in the house.

McRae gave a more than decent performance, especially technically in the dances, and I'm sure he will grow into the role in the future. I suspect any emotive weaknesses from Cojocaru were purely a result of the late change in her partner because she was otherwise exceptional. The rest of the cast ably supported, with José Martin particularly good as Mercutio.

The production is a potent one with some of the best pas de deux around. Some of the company work, especially in the first act, is a little cluttered but then that's not what anyone really came for. Macmillan's choreography for the doomed lovers is without fault and given some experience for McRae (which he sadly isn't getting this run) this will be a great partnership.

War Horse

Nick Hytner clearly had some spare change. The National Theatre (NT) has thrown everything at their new annual family orientated show. Pity it's ended up as more of a Dark Materials than a Coram Boy. The NT is an amazing producing house that has total respect for its audience regardless of age; there are no narrators or vomit inducing sing along songs which is great, sadly there's no real emotion either.

The story of War Horse is a fairly pointless, totally predictable, insanely stereotypical and altogether uninteresting mish mash of clichés (think Saving Private Ryan but with Ryan being a horse and fewer flying body parts). It does however have lots of horses (and birds when they could squeeze them in), which I suspect is the reason the NT picked it. The horses are undeniably impressive creations which manage, at least sometimes, to convey real character. Indeed the puppetry is impeccable throughout. It was at times a little too good, showing up the actors, with the little French girl puppet giving the most life like performance of anyone. The cast did a fair job of dealing with what they were given, but when the whole piece centres around a long series of improbable coincidences (MINOR SPOILER) and worst of all the emotional climax of the piece resolves itself as a result of a jammed gun, they never really had a hope. Kudos to Angus Wright for being the only actor who managed, despite the ludicrous manner of his death, to generate any real pathos.

However, all the money that was clearly thrown at this production does bring some strong set pieces, the horses' running is truly special and the close of the first act is beautifully staged. Not taking anything away from the individual bits of exceptional stagecraft, I did begin to find the sheer number of epic moments grating. The Tank that emerges in the second half is overkill and the sudden need to put the drum revolve (an amazing bit of technology) into use, right at the end, smacks of desperation. It's also this outpouring of spectacle that somehow manages to squash any element of emotion. We see a sixteen year old boy going off to war and somehow they manage to make this seem quite alright. Not in an ironic, look how the world used to be and how awful it must of been kind of way, but in a well this was just dandy kind of way. If you want to desensitise children to the horrors of war, this is a damn impressive show. The saving grace is that it ably shows that the Germans were human too and they suffered in exactly the same way. Which in this show is pretty minor suffering, albeit with a reasonable chance of a noble death, except for one German who gets squished by a tank (perhaps that's why his death actually seemed to make me feel something).

This isn't a terrible show. It's just not a particularly good one. See it only for the brilliant puppetry. If you're looking for massive spectacle then Lord of the Rings or one of the other mammoth musicals would be better for you. If you want a great bit of storytelling that's suitable for the whole family then please go and see Nicholas Nickleby, it really needs an audience and truly deserves one. Alternatively, if by chance you can make it to New York, see the Coram Boy. That was a piece of family theatre the NT nailed.

Edward II (Birmingham Royal Ballet)

I don't know what I was really expecting but a Mayerling redux certainly wasn't the first thing on my mind. The Birmingham Royal Ballet's Edward II is pretty much Mayerling for a new age. Whereas Rudolf dances with a long series of women, Edward is much more sexually ambivalent. The structure however is not dissimiliar, with the central conceit being a series of pas de deux. Comparing this to Mayerling seems a little unfair. In my opinion at least, Mayerling is one of Macmillan's seminal works, and as such I don't think David Bintley would be too offended by anyone comparing the two.

The central performances were uniformly serviceable without ever being exceptional. Ian Mackay made a decent Edward and it was he and Martin Harvey (an up and coming Royal Ballet dancer who is guesting with the BRB) who had the strongest dances of the evening both with their early erotic duet and near final dance as Jailer and Captive. Elisha Willis dances competently enough but I never really felt she had that terrifying edge that the character of Isabella needs, she does after all have her husband (the king) murdered, and this never really came through in the dancing.

As a modern full length ballet I was impressed. The score by John McCabe is absolutely brilliant in the more aggressive violent scenes, although it feels a little plodding in some of the quieter, romantic scenes. The choreography is exciting with a good stab at storytelling and some (mostly aggressive) emotions. If there is one major failing in the choreography, and the piece as a whole, it is that there are too many characters many of whom are very important for a short while, but then do not appear again. The synopsis in the programme was slight which didn't help but overall the plot was probably just a little too complex.

This is a great piece, very much in the Macmillan/Ashton (good quality British story ballets) vein. I doubt it will really last in the repertory but well worth seeing whilst it's still around.

Magic Lantern Spectacular

I now know more than I could ever wish to know about Magic Lanterns, and already wish to purge this information from my brain. This is more or less the least spectacular performance one could wish for.

It started reasonably, the introductory spiel was vaguely interesting and some of the initial Lantern shorts were quite witty and for a couple of minutes it does at least offer some novelty. Soon the various players were introduced and the evening went rapidly downhill. The Lanternist (is that even a title?) was an amusing German who certainly filled his role perfectly with an outfit of full tails and other period quirks. The English introducer was kind of amusing in a slightly sad, embarrassing English way. Finally the narrator was introduced and never has there been a worse narrator. Firstly, her English was terrible and secondly, she performed like a bad cabaret performer. This is Wagner for christsake, he'd turn in his grave.

The actual "Ring Cycle" was pretty poor with many fewer Lantern effects and much more waffle. The Cycle was pretty much reduced to a badly pronounced fairy tale. The only thing I took from this was an even greater respect for Wagner, even under circumstances like these, a piano arrangement of his work still sounds amazing. I left at the interval so if by some miraculous feat of optics the stage was enveloped in flames in the closing stages, apologies all round. But I find that doubtful considering this is elevated end of the pier Victorian entertainment. The worst thing I have ever seen at the Opera House, and one of the worst things I've seen for a while.

Nicholas Nickleby

You don't realise how important something is until you no longer have it. Nicholas Nickleby currently lacks an audience. I saw both parts last week and the audience can't have been more than a hundred, this is in the Wimbledon theatre, which must hold more than a thousand. The show enters the West End in December and I feel very sorry for the producers. A show that I'm sure would have been brilliant with an audience was completely deflated of all energy.

This is a very old fashioned kind of theatre. The play requires us to follow a good old fashioned plot for about 7 hours (over two nights) with no gimmicks but that solid old war horse, acting. Thankfully the cast are uniformly good, I won't mention names as it's really a company piece, and despite my continuous embarrassment of being amongst so few I was able to enjoy myself and did stay the course. The play is episodic, unsurprising considering its source, and suffers a little for it with the concluding part stronger overall without the first's need for artificial climaxes. The staging is simple but effective with the various locations conjured out of rarely more than the odd bit of furniture and some lighting.

However hard they tried, the actors just had nothing to work with. There weren't enough of us in the audience to ever really raise a laugh and it was clear the actors knew this. I hope it finds an audience in the West End as this really is a sterling bit of work, of a genre we don't see enough of. But based on the audiences of last week, I really doubt it'll last till Christmas.

Ricky Gervais "Fame"

A slight diversion from the norm. Ricky Gervais' Live Tour. I can't say I'm particularly into stand up comedy, but Extras is genius and the Office no lame duck so it seemed worthwhile to pick up a ticket for Gervais' live tour. He's good. Very, very good. The bloke who supports him isn't funny and somehow this made Gervais' set all the funnier.

Let's get one thing straight though. Whatever he claims, Gervais is at least on some level, a total arrogant shit. But he's all the funnier for it. He'll talk about anything and somehow, despite his allusions to it, never actually seems terribly offensive. He has jokes about Religion, Race and Sex... basically anything you could think of and on the whole most of them stick. He lacks a real overarching point (the whole fame thing is pretty thin on the ground) and occasionally this gives the evening an erratic quality.

You'll leave thinking you've had a good laugh but not much else. If you can find a ticket for tomorrow's show its probably worth getting but don't cut yourself up about missing him. He's much better on television.