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Reviews from the Edinburgh International Festival 2007 (3)
La Didone
After Francesco Cavalli (music) and Giovanni Francesco Busenello (Lyrics)
The Wooster Group
Royal Lyceum
****
New York based experimental theatre company The Wooster Group's marriage
of opera from its earliest days and Sci-fi schlock provides a futuristic
feast for the eyes and ears.
The company's director Elizabeth LeCompte specialises in multimedia
works that challenge both performers and audiences by bringing together
seemingly unrelated elements.
On this occasion, she takes a 17th Century opera telling the sad story
of Dido and Aeneas and runs it side by side with a 1960s cult movie
called Planet of the Vampires. Actors switch between the two
with alacrity and, at times, play in both simultaneously. Indeed, some
of the Italian is simultaneously translated by modern characters. Confusingly,
their version frequently differs from that on the surtitles.
The Wooster Group are keen on the visual impact of their work and this
is a multimedia feast. There are four normally-sized TV screens constantly
projecting images, including some from the movie, at stage level. In
addition, three large horizontal screens that can rise and fall go for
larger scale imagery above.
This all has a fantastic effect, which complements the silver spaceman
costumes and sometimes shaky (deliberately) movement. Within this framework,
two stories develop and to an extent overlap and illuminate each other.
Dido, the widowed Queen of Carthage, sweetly played and sung by Hai-Ting
Chinn, cannot see the charms of the obvious suitor, Andrew Nolen's Iarbus.
He is heartbroken when with Cupid's help, she prefers an outsider, Aeneas,
portrayed by John Young.
In the future, a spaceship loses its mate and then most of its inhabitants
begin to behave oddly, having had their bodies taken over by aliens
who have lost their planet.
The primary impetus for the 100 minutes comes from the classical tale,
which is played out to an interesting conclusion as the Queen is given
a reprieve from what seemed like inevitable death. The singing all round
is good and the music varies from the classical to heavy rock guitar
riffs.
Nothing in this production is predictable and the mix of artistic media
may not please those who like traditional performances. However, anyone
who comes to La Didone with an open mind should find much to
enjoy in an eccentrically varied but always engrossing evening.
Philip Fisher
Beowulf
Benjamin Bagby
The Hub
*****
These days most of us outgrow our appreciation of the fine art of bedtime
stories before we hit double figures, however there is still something
undeniably hypnotic about the power of the storyteller, which is probably
why this ancient and most basic means of entertainment is still with
us today.
Beowulf is no cosy tale to snuggle down with, recounting as
it does the terror wrought upon Danish King Hrothgar's court by the
bloodlusty monster Grendel, a descendent of Cain. Hearing Hrothgar's
plight, warrior Beowulf, reputed to carry the strength of thirty men,
travels overseas to fight Grendel before taking on his mother, and finally
a dragon who finishes him off in the process. Even on the page, the
story which spawned a thousand fantasy novels is evocative enough to
conjure up images of Nordic battle, demonic lairs and valiant sea-faring.
When spoken in its original language, it is mesmerising.
Benjamin Bagby is an extraordinary performer who provides an extraordinary
evening's entertainment. Glazed in candlelight and accompanied by his
six-string harp, he recreates the role of the scop, a mediaeval
storyteller who could perform epics of up to six hours long or more
for the entertainment of the town. The tale is told in its original
guttural and rich sounds, and often Bagby breaks into a hybrid of song
and recitation. The harp flutters around its six notes whipping up suspense
and lulling pensively around the words, in an altogether entrancing
combination. Aside from the feat which Bagby achieves in memorising
the archaic rhythms and unfamiliar sounds of the language, he is a captivating
storyteller who moulds each word like a carefully carved stone.
Bagby does startle half of his audience by prematurely ending the piece
after Beowulf's first victory, but his truncated version allows him
to give enough time and space to the portion of the poem he deals with,
and the result feels like experiencing a piece of history read aloud.
Lucy Ribchester
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