The London Coliseum – until 2 December 2023
Reviewed by Julia Spargo
5*****
On the way to see a nearly-three hour show, in Mongolian and with a cast of seventy, I mused that it was not like anything I had been to before, but I can indeed confirm, I have never seen anything like it.
In ancient Mongolia, two babies are born to Archug Khan within days of each other; one being the child of his consort and the other born to the empress. The Khan, knowing he has not been intimate with his wife, rejects her baby and seeks to recognise Khuchir, the child of his consort, as his heir. The empress and her lover, the Khan’s chancellor, Egereg, swap the babies over secretly in order to manipulate the royal bloodline. Inevitably, a lot of bloodshed follows, with neither child surviving to outlive the Khan.
Within three minutes of the curtain going up I had audibly exclaimed, Wow! That sentiment continued throughout the entire production. It is a complete spectacle. The production begins with a dance of two foxes, an animal said to protect a new baby when it is born. These playful foxes maintain a central thread and reappear throughout the show.
The elaborate and many costumes were designed in collaboration between archaeologists, historians, artists and craftsmen and took two years to produce (some garments taking up to a month each) and really add to the sense of drama, in conjunction with the lighting and staging of seventy people, many of whom are often all on the stage at once.
The music is diverse, swinging between soft and romantic and dramatic and menacing, the composition encompassing a symphony orchestra, a choir, the Mongolian national orchestra and choir and a children’s choir.
The dance is breathtaking. Incorporating acrobatics and puppetry, it is inextricably linked to the dialogue, making the plot easy to follow. The sheer drama of the show almost renders the surtitles in English redundant, partly because the distance between the translation screen and the action means you don’t want to miss out by reading, but to ignore them would be to miss out on the poetry of the script. I found much of it quite beautiful.
I could go on. It is difficult to pick any cast member above another. All bring a real presence to the production, quite an achievement when there are sixty others in the scene, whirling and dancing in some the most incredible costumes I have ever seen on a stage. I think top credit must go to the show’s director, Hero Baatar, and playwright Timberlake Wertenbaker who have brought the story to life in a different culture and setting to its original audience. And what a setting the Coliseum is. Very fitting for such a rich and dramatic production.
Please don’t let the length of the show put you off. I did not check the time once, because I didn’t want to miss any of the spectacle, even for a second. A full five stars because I simply could not find fault. Brilliant.