Tag Archives: Arcola Theatre

Writer: Dael Orlandersmith Director: Neel Keller Reviewer: Nina Reece Imagine the image of a black boy running. Then, ten shots ring out. Such was the end of the life of Michael Brown on the 9thAugust 2014. Just eighteen years old, Brown’s, death sparked civil unrest and propelled the international activist movement, Black Lives Matter, into action. Within three days, Dael ...

Music: Arcola Participation Queer Collective, after Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Libretto: Leo Doulton, after Lorenzo da Ponte Director: Leo Doulton Reviewer: Scott Matthewman Arcola’s annual Grimeborn season fills a unique space – a fringe festival for opera in a world where most fringe arts festivals concentrate on theatre or comedy. Every year, it throws up surprising takes on beloved classics, sitting ...

Music: Vincenzo Bellini Libretto: Felice Romani  Director: Lysanne van Overbeek Reviewer: Karl O’Doherty Who knew, really knew, Romeo and Juliet could be so sexy? Shakespeare’s version has romance, sure, but here in Bellini and Romani’s version there’s a palpable lust expressed in the music, the words, the action and events. Carried off with verve here under Lysanne van Overbeeks direction ...

Composer: Amy Beach  Libretto: Nan Bagby Stephens Director: Emma Jude Harris Reviewer: Karl O’Doherty At only an hour long, and contained within the Arcola’s Studio 2, Cabildo is not that big, but it certainly is clever. Composed in 1932, and first performed in 1947, it’s received a few contemporary touches in the production to bring it right up to date ...

Music: Gillian Whitehead (Hotspur), Arnold Schoenberg (Pierrot Lunaire) Libretto: Fleur Adcock (Hotspur), Albert Giraud (Pierrot Lunaire) Reviewer: Scott Matthewman At first glance, the two one-act pieces presented by formidAbility and Signdance Collective International, and performed as part of the Arcola’s 2019 Grimeborn opera season, do not have much in common with one another. The first, Hotspur, relates the story of ...

Music and Libretto: Scott Joplin Director: Cecilia Stinton Musical Director: Matthew Lynch Reviewer: Karl O’Doherty A heady mix of musical styles and tempos swirl around this 1911 opera – breaking expectations and provoking a dive into deeper meaning beyond the seemingly simple plot. Scott Joplin’s switching from spiritual sounding songs, to folky dances to something resembling ragtime – all the ...

Writer: Samuel Barber, Peter Reynolds and Jacques Offenbach Director: Paula Chitty Reviewer: Miriam Sallon Owing to the fact that three operettas are performed within an hour, it seems unfair to ask that any of them pack a real punch- there just isn’t time. That being said, there is plenty of time for light entertainment and a little comedy. And with ...

Composer: Jean-Philippe Rameau Libretto: Abbe Simon-Joseph Pellegrin Music and Stage Director: Marcio da Silva Reviewer: Maryam Philpott Being the mortal offspring, lover or interlocutor of a Greek God never turns out well and Prince Hippolyte is doubly damned – not only the grandson of Neptune with a famous father, but also a devotee of Diane to whom he pledged early ...