A night at the opera in the company of Opera Circus is a one off experience to be treasured for many moons to come. Forget engrained notions of pofaced opera or tricksy circus or combinations of the two. This multi gifted group was set up by a group of professional singers with a shared passion for telling folk tales and stories through a collaborative devising process, involving mime, physical theatre, humour, vocal and instrumental music, innovative visual effects and a strong, clear sense of narrative.
In the hands of director David Glass, whose own forming and directing credits stretch deep into the Europeans tradition, this adaptation off Venetian writer Carlo Gozzi's 18th century allegory of political intrigue, old magic, sexual exploitation and blood lust becomes a rich, heady theatrical journey. The setting is the aptly named tiny, unvisited kingdom of Serendippo, which is, nominally, ruled by a benevolent, half witted king (his distraction haying been caused in childhood by a fall from a high window) but where the real power lies in the Machiavellian hands of the self appointed prime minister Tartaglia. He has negotiated a deal with the surrounding republic that if the king fails to produce an heir by an agreed date, the kingdom will be absorbed.
The action begins as an envoy from the republic arrives to begin the administration of the treaty. Glass draws on commedia traditions and the cultural icons of eastern Europe as the exotic media through which to tell this gloriously textured tale, where spirits are exchanged, new lives assumed and the struggle between good and evil becomes a blurred, complex affair. Working closely alongside is composer Paul Sand, who has woven a haunting score for the singers and the small ensemble of four musicians who switch between a dizzying assortment of instruments and frequently double as actors and stage crew, manoeuvring Jamie Vartan's cleverly versatile wooden set with apparently effortless dexterity.
Then there is a small, damaged child, in life sized puppet form, whose silent interventions are heart wrenchingly eloquent. One would have to, search far to discover an evening of such complete, satisfying, creatively enterprising performance.
