(seen at the performance on 11th February 2023)
And so on Saturday Evening the monkey completed a challenge it set itself to explore opera for the first time by seeing a trio of them. Both readers will recall its journey began with the familiar “The Handmaid’s Tale” before the slightly more esoteric “It’s A Wonderful Life” (a wonderful experience). It saved the big one until last, its first encounter with “classic” opera. And so.
First problem came with the overture. Stunningly performed by the size of pit orchestra West End musicals can no longer afford, a reminder how amazing live music sounds. EXCEPT... every note has been used over the years to advertise everything from cars to fish fingers and satirised on comedy shows whenever something “posh” is required. That’s quite an intellectual jolt for those who watch too much television.
That said, old Bidet, sorry, Bizet, knows how to knock out a tune or three. Second thrill after the sound from the pit is discovering exactly what the lyrics are saying when matched to the tune for real. Nothing to do with “success on a plate for you” in fact.
Turns out that one famous tune – “da da dum, da da da dum” (you know it) is a woman explaining how if one man doesn’t fall for her, another will. And she is probably right. The other one “stand by your partners, till you hear the bell” is how a matador feels in the ring with all those eyes watching him from the stands. So that sorts that one.
The plot is the standard opera stuff – he fancies her, she isn’t interested, so he kills her. A musical would get that one over in about 2 hours if it were even allowed to use the plot without being picketed and rightly so by anti-violence protestors. Operas need about 3 hours to do the same thing, with quite a lot more repetitive light rumination. In fact, the daft pillock murders her then sings that he misses her. But that’s opera for you, guesses the monkey.
As to the production itself, frankly the stage looks like Southall Broadway on a Saturday night. Load of beat-up old Mercedes with people huddled around, in and on them. We know where Alfons Flores lives, and probably where Kieron Docherty who realised the designs got the things from. Sort of works, and the bull sign is also fun.
Merce Paloma also get a nod for amusingly colourful outfits for the ladies when not in factory gear, and decently convincing military ones for the soldiers – even the Y-fronts looked authentic. Director Calixto Bieito has one unlucky chorus bloke exercising running round the stage on military “jankers” to make the point. Probably not a different one every night, though who knows how Bieito is funding his retirement or if the pre-show poker game gets serious? Moving on...
The scenes of the plot are not particularly hard to follow, though very few of the situations are clearly explained. Hard to tell that they are all a bunch of smugglers, nor quite how and why in the gap between the first and second acts some elderly military pervert gets involved with Carmen and her friends after having her tied up in the first act. On the other hand...
Actually, that is another problem. The whole thing, about passionate love and rejection just didn’t feel that sensual. Something off in the chemistry, maybe, or the vast Coliseum stage and pit chasm perhaps not being spanned perhaps.
For the plus side, Ginger Costa-Jackson in the title role is nicely fiery about her independence. Sean Panikkar’s Jose, her corporal lover has clear diction and is able to convince us about his simple views of life.
Covering for absent colleagues, Carrie-Ann Williams as love-lorn Micaela steals the hearts of all, while commander Zuniga from Freddie Tong is a suitably manipulative brute.
Note too for the children from local schools, bulking out the crowd scenes and enjoying the participation as much as the audience enjoyed watching them.
Conclusions of the experiment? The monkey isn’t totally convinced it will ever truly feel the same about opera as it does about musical theatre, plays, Shakespeare and panto. That said, it knows it will try and collect a few more – the ENO “Tosca” if it comes back into the repertoire, “La Boheme,” “Madame Butterfly” and “The Magic Flute” if only to tick them off as something it has seen. It will also probably explore at least one in the original language too.
It can’t really judge this “Carmen” against anything else, but the fact its reaction to a totally unfamiliar art form was sufficient to keep it interested for the entire length says it all. Let’s hope the ENO overcomes its current issues and remains a gateway for the curious to enter this very different world. It’s less strange than the monkey thought... maybe give it a try yourselves, just like delicious Findus dishes in the freezer section of your local supermarket now... advertisers really do spoil everything, don’t they.
4 stars.
Photo credit: Richard Hubert Smith. Used by kind permission.