Theatre Royal Nottingham – until Friday 21 March 2025
Reviewed by Louise Ford
5*****
Music is magic
This production by Opera North was given its first outing in 2019, and is directed by James Brining. The sets which are grand and imposing, are by Colin Richmond. They manage to convey the grandeur of the palaces and the intimacy of the forest, whilst moving effortlessly between scenes. Colin Richmond also designed the costumes which have a nod towards The Handmaid’s Tale for the women and a cultish scout troop for the men. The use of clever visuals for the trails by fire and water is by videos designed by Douglas O’Connell.
The story of The Magic Flute is a bit tricky to unpick, suffice to say it’s one of good and evil and the pursuit of love, with magical bells and, of course, a flute.
As the story is quite confusing and convoluted this production treats it all as a dream. The opening scene is one of a child going to bed whilst in the background a rowdy party is taking place. Then the nightmare begins. The monster is defeated by a handsome stranger but he needs reinforcements. The cavalry comes in the guise of three “nurses”, complete with bloodied aprons and, of course, light sabers. The trio of ladies are played by Hazel Croft, Charlie Drummond and Katie Sharpe The hero Tamino is played by the tenor Tristan Llŷr Griffiths.
From the palace we are then transported to the forest to meet Papageno brilliantly portrayed by Emyr Wyn Jones. He’s out collecting birds for the Queen of the Night and rather foolishly he claims to have defeated the monster for which he is duly punished. The two (Tamino and Papageno) are now bound on a journey to rescue Pamina ,the daughter of the Queen of the Night.
Pamina is beautifully portrayed by Soraya Mafi who has an incredible voice. The Queen of the Night in our production was played by Anna Dennis. She appeared on stage in true Maleficent style. She delivers the famous aria effortlessly, to a huge round of applause. It’s an amazing piece of Opera to see performed live.
In contrast to the dark queen we have Sarastro portrayed by Justin Hopkins. He has an amazing bass-baritone voice and he commands the forces of light.
The love interest for Papageno is Papagena (of course), she is portrayed by Pasquale Orchard she is lively and sparky.
The live orchestra of Opera North are a delight and really enhance the experience. In our performance they were conducted by Patrick Lange. Both he and the orchestra received a huge round of applause at the end.
Our production was sung in English and had subtitles on the screens at the side of the stage. But even more intriguingly was the announcement that the performance was to be signed, and that rather than standing to the side the signers would be an integral part of the production. There were two signers, sadly I could not see their names in the programme, one covering the women the other the men. They were outstanding and somehow enhanced the production, it was mesmerising to see them signing the music.
The other shout out was to the children in the chorus and in particular the three scouts who were on stage for most of the second half, their voices were particularly angelic.
The whole Company, Orchestra and Signers were given at standing ovation,which they richly deserved.
What an outstanding evening’s entertainment.