A Modern Theatre Review presented by www.stagebeauty.net

Into the Little Hill / Down by the Greenwood Side

Short Operas by George Benjamin/Martinn Crimp and Harrison Entwistle/Michael Nyman

Produced by ROH2, The Opera Group and London Sinfonietta

Howard Assembly Rooms, Leeds

Date of Performance: Sunday 8th March, 2009

Duration: 1 hours, 50 Minutes (inc. one 30 min interval).

Review by Don Gillan, www.stagebeauty.net

Synopsis


Programme

Down by the Greenwood Side

A ballad about a cruel mother who murdered her children is combined with a mummers play about the killing and dismembering of Saint George.

Into the Little Hill

On the eve of an election, the populace demand that the Minister destroy the rats that are plaguing their town. A stranger then visits the Minister and promises to destroy the rats in return for a large sum money. The Minister swears by his sleeping child that he will pay what the stranger asks. The stranger draws the rats out of town with his music and the Minister is re-elected, but when the stranger returns for his payment the Minister reneges on the deal. He claims the rats were not destroyed but left the town of their own volition and adds that all music is 'incidental'. The next morning mothers throughout the city wake to find that theire children have disappeared in the night. The Minister's wife cries 'where is my child?' and the children 'inside the little hill.'

Show Short Synopsis (Teaser)

Impressions/Performances

The first part of this double bill, "Down by the Greenwood Side", is a surrealistic tableau drawn from various English folk sources. We hear three sung versions of the ballad of the Cruel Mother sung by soprano Claire Booth, while four actors thrash out a bloodthirsty mummers play, in a modern urban setting, in which St. George is dismembered by a dragon-tatooed skinhead then comically reassembled to fight again another day. It's all rather violent and darkly humourous but the two elements just don't gel and it feels like two seperate performances jarring on the stage. Moreover, since the ballad of the Cruel Mother is not explored at all we get no real sense of why it is even there. The boisterousness of the play-acting drives the ballad into a supporting role, like a radio playing in the background. Added to that, the music is bleak and ugly and, despite some terrific performances from the players, it all feels rather hackneyed. This is very much an opportunity missed. The beautifully sung ballad ought to be the focal point, but it survives as little more than a footnote.

It's companion piece, "Into the Little Hill", is rather better and, although less dramatically dynamic than it's counterpart, is definitely the star of the evening. This is a semi-staged piece where two Sopranos, Susan Bickley taking the lead supported by a return of Claire Booth, take on the persona's of the characters in relating the pied piper tale in song. The music is sombre but beguiling, and the lyrics talking of rats and angry-townsfolk and missing children keep a firm grip on our attention throughout. Both accomplished vocalists deliver the narrative with precision and great clarity and the small orchestra support them with great assurance. This is a striking and rather beautiful piece that definitely put its predecessor into the shade.

Overall the singing, acting and staging were excellent, but the two pieces were a little mis-matched with the best certainly being saved till last. Birtwhistle's opener looks rather unelegant and curmudgeonly when compared to Benjamin's much more refined and sophisticated offering.

Verdict

An operatic double bill offering some fine singing and dynamic action.

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