John McIntosh Theatre, London
Oratory School
Gretel – Llio Evans
Hänsel – Susanne Holmes
Mother, Witch – Shuna Sendall
Father – Stephen John
Svanholm
Sandman, Dew Fairy – Rahel
Moore
James Bonas (director)
Carl Davies (designs)
Paul J Need (lighting)
Katie Higgins (costumes)
Co-Opera Co. Orchestra
Stephen Higgins (conductor)
After a couple of weeks
taking in the delights and challenges of Salzburg and Bayreuth, I might well
have become a little jaded. Not a bit of it, and not least on account of this
delightful performance of Humperdinck’s Hansel
and Gretel (sung here in English) by the enterprising Co-Opera Co. Even my
prejudice, or considered opinion (delete as applicable), against opera in translation
wilted away, though I remain some way from ever wishing to hear Figaro in German again, save for
Furtwängler. David Pountney’s lively, intelligently unfaithful translation
suited occasion and production to a tee, and, wonder of wonders, one could hear
almost every word of it too.
I should also have been
sceptical about the prospect of a reduced orchestration. Even if the orchestra
took a little while to settle down – the Overture had its rocky moments – taken
as a whole, this proved quite a treat. One does not expect the Staatskapelle
Dresden, nor Sir Colin Davis, in such circumstances, but there were genuine compensations,
the woodwind in particular shining, and inner parts emerging as if from a
Mozart serenade. Stephen Higgins shaped Humperdinck’s lovable score with care
and wisdom; we were not only in a safe pair of hands, but one with a sense of
theatre too. If, in the abstract, I think of the score as a little too
derivative, its Meistersinger-isms
(with no apology for the near-Teutonism) verging upon plagiarism, in
performance it rarely fails to lift the spirits and certainly did not fail to
do so on this occasion. I was surprised, moreover, that I really did not miss
the chorus at all; instead I was able to hear more of the orchestra and
experience the relevant moments as if they were further ‘pantomimes’.
James Bonas’s production
worked extremely well, set in the austerity – sound familiar? – of that ghastly
decade, the 1950s. The Mother’s housewife get-up, the washing on the lines, the
hollowness of ‘family values’, and of course the very real danger of child
abuse therein, were present in our dramatic experience without being unduly
hammered home. There was a genuinely chilling moment, however, when the Witch
showed pictures of missing children on an overhead projector. Fairy tales, as
everyone should know but a surprising number refuse to recognise, are anything
but saccharine, and that becomes doubly so with the Brothers Grimm. The
appearance of her house offered a genuine coup
de théâtre, every aspect of the staging both imaginative and resourceful.
Perhaps the most crucial
aspect of Co-Opera Co., however, is the opportunity it provides for young
singers, both in its workshops, graced by the likes of Sir Thomas Allen, the
late Philip Langridge, Janis Kelly, Ryland Davies, et al., and in actual performances. I was especially taken by the
rich tones of both Shuna Sendall as Mother and Witch and Rahel Moore, doubling
up as Sandman and Dew Fairy. Both can act splendidly too, doubtless testament
to intensive work from the company. Llio Evans and Susanne Holmes made a
convincing, complementary sibling pair of girl and boy, whilst Stephen John
Svanholm relished the comic side of his role as their father.
Future Co-Opera Co. Performances
are scheduled for Wolverhampton, Croydon, Bury St Edmunds, Darlington,
Wellingborough, Blackpool, Epsom, Staplehurst, Buxton, Manchester (RNCM),
Yeovil, and Hertford: not all offering Hansel
and Gretel, for Don Giovanni and The Magic Flute are on offer too. Those
interested in assisting the excellent work of Co-Opera Co., whether
financially, for instance by contributing to the Philip Langridge Bursary Fund
or becoming a friend, or simply by attending performances, should e-mail Kate
Flowers, the company's artistic director, at info@co-opera-co.org, or
visit the website, https://www.co-opera-co.org.
