Rearranging the Furniture

Austerity Rustic Chivalry in Blackheath, Undersung Onyegin at Covent Garden

Unhappy Easter: Katherine Broderick (Santuzza) fends off Oliver Johnston (Turiddu) Picture © Craig Fuller

‘Less is more’ has been a theatrical mantra since long before the late 20th century Polish director and theorist Jerzy Grotowski articulated his philosophy of ‘poor theatre’, ridding the stage of excess and focusing on actorly skill with a minimum of props. Indeed, ancient Greek arenas and Elizabethan playhouses were both ‘poor theatre’ venues avant la lettre. Most of the UK’s opera companies, even the generously subsidised Royal Opera, can be considered poor in the current economic climate, so it was fascinating to see two shows in London on consecutive nights which attempted to make a virtue of scenic minimalism. Far more convincing than Covent Garden’s bare-to-the-bones Yevgeny Onyegin - the company’s fifth production since 1971 - was Blackheath Halls Opera’s Cavalleria Rusticana, performed with meagre resources but bags of compensatory enthusiasm.

Despite its recent successes with a repertoire as varied as Handel’s Semele and Bernstein’s Candide, Blackheath (BHO) was tempting fate with Mascagni’s one-acter BHO is a community company based in one of London’s suburbs, employing professional soloists, director and designer alongside an ensemble of amateurs. Though billed with its Italian title, the opera was sung in English, and there was no pretence of transporting us to Sicily. The ‘community’ element looked local, making a powerful point of including performers with disabilities. Harry Fehr opted for a near-contemporary vernacular location: the English Hymnals tucked into the back pockets of the wooden chairs betrayed an austere Anglican milieu rather than opulent Catholicism. In this context the story does lose some of its red-in-tooth-and-claw emotional intensity, but the principals made Edmund Tracey’s 50-year old translation work effectively as drama. Fehr knows how to move an amateur chorus round the stage (some doubling as stage-hands) and drew committed performances from the soloists.