Leeds Grand Theatre – until 18th November 2023
Reviewed by Dawn Smallwood
5*****
Opera North’s new Green Season is underway with its first performance of Falstaff at the Leeds Grand Theatre. Verdi’s Falstaff is a three-act comedic opera which was first premiered in 1893 in Italy and performed by Opera North for the very first time in 1997. This is Verdi’s only comedic opera with the libretto adapted by Arrigo Boito and based on Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor and some scenes from Henry IV.
Set during the reign of Henry IV with a modern and contemporary twist of the 1980s, the story is about Sir John Falstaff (Henry Waddington), an overweight knight, whose mission is to seduce two married women in order for him to acquire their husbands’ wealth. However, the wives, Alice (Kate Royal) and Meg (Helen Évora) receive each Falstaff’s love letter, identical ones, and they decide to punish him alongside Ford (Richard Buckhard) Alice’s husband, who undercovers Falstaff intentions. There is also Nannetta (Isabelle Peters), Ford and Alice’s daughter, and Fenton (Egor Zhuravskii) who are in love with each other. However, Ford disapproves and wants Nannetta instead to marry Dr Caius (Paul Nilon) because of his wealth and reputation.
The plot unravels throughout with panic and chaos reducing in Falstaff being hidden in the laundry basket and is thrown in the river at the conclusion of Act Two. At the beginning of Act III, Falstaff, after being dunked in the river, laments his vulnerability and the injustice against him and seeks comfort in drinking. The story then builds up again when the characters dress up again as supernatural creatures to punish Falstaff once and again and that Ford ensures that Nannetta is married to Dr Caius. The scenes and characters have some resemblance to Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
With further confusion and chaos, it ends with Falstaff having the final laugh and concluding that everything in the world, probably everyone too, is a jest, foolhardy. Like all Shakespeare’s comedies it all ends well with the cast reiterating Falstaff’s statement with a fugue, ‘Life is a burst of laughter.’
Verdi’s diverse musical ingenuity is rhythmically and harmonically sounded and played throughout with a wide range of musical instruments, which creates the perfect ambience for this comedic opera. A stupendous performance from the cast with support from the Opera North chorus. The standout performance must be Henry Waddington’s portrayal of Falstaff. Waddington superbly engages exquisitely and with authority the role of Falstaff personifying his egoistical, mischievous and comedic behaviour which entertains the audience from beginning to end.
Opera North, lead by Leslie Travers, inspiringly uses sets and backdrops from previous productions for this one. A notable feature is the acquisition of a second hand 1970s caravan, locally sourced, and how curating this is a pivotal role for Falstaff’s abode in the first couple of acts. Another feature is the use of the antlers for a prop in the Third Act which were shed naturally by local deer and depicting ‘Herne the Hunter’ with its horns which Falstaff disguises as. The sustainable staging is supported by Paule Constable and Ben Pickersgill’s aesthetic lighting.
Under the excellent direction of Olivia Fuchs and musically by Garry Walker, Falstaff is an outstanding production and is supported with a talented performance and a sustainable staging which both live up to Opera North’s Green Season and towards a green future in the theatre industry.