Libretto: Joanna Turner after Felice Romani and Eugène Scribe
Director: Joanna Turner
Composer: Gaetano Donizetti
Musical Arranger and Musical Director: Leo Geyer
Baseless Fabric’s re-imagined The Elixir of Love, currently part of the Arcola’s Grimeborn Opera season, is an unmissable joy. The plot is reworked in hilarious ways, the libretto a hoot, the singing superb and the tiny band a real delight. Who’d expect a love song to the number 38 Routemaster? And all in just 55 minutes!
Jonathan Cooke’s geeky Nemorino with his anorak and backpack is instantly sympathetic. He’s hopelessly in love with Adina. But in Joanna Turner’s glorious version, he also has a passion for London buses. ‘Bus stops are my happy place,’ he sings as he gazes in awe at a digital arrivals board.
Jack Holton plays his rival, the cool Belcore. He’s a smooth talker – that is, if you’re moved by someone who offers to show you a good time, ‘better than you’d find on Tinder’ and claims to be on the guest list for the best parties.
Abigail Kelly gives a lustrous performance as Adina. There’s something about her full, sweet soprano that assures you she’s going to make the right choice in the end. Her duets with each would-be lover are all enchanting.
In Donizetti’s original, Dulcamara is the snake-oil salesman who’s passing off cheap red wine as the magical elixir that will guarantee love. Peter Edge is great as the flash salesman. His wheelie suitcase lights up in purple as he displays his special wares. This time it’s pheromone-heavy fragrance, Love Effect. What a brilliant idea this is – Nemorino gets drunk, not on alcohol but on the magical placebo effect of this essence. And then to have him captured on video, only to become a TikTok celebrity: no need for that corny plot twist of an inherited fortune!
Leo Geyer’s arrangements for violin, accordion and bassoon of some of the major hits from the original are fabulous. Yuliia Humeniuk’s accordion pulses excitedly as Nemorino claims he feels the elixir take effect. The bassoon, played by Geyer himself, proves to be unexpectedly versatile, beautifully eloquent alongside Philippa Mo’s violin.
The Elixir of Love (Re-imagined) gives you the genuine essence of Donizetti’s original and much, much more. A must-see.
Runs until 2 August 2025
