THE PERFECT PICNIC to 2 February 2008
THE PERFECT PICNIC
by Ian Bloomfield and Tim Armstrong-Taylor music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Jermyn Street Theatre 16b Jermyn Street SW1Y 6ST to 2 February 2008.
Tue-Sat 7.30pm, Mat Sun 3.30pm.
Runs 1hr 50min One interval.
TICKETS: 020 7287 2875.
www.jermynstreettheatre.co.uk
Review: Geoff Ambler 15 January.
A picnic in Jermyn Street and the funniest of operas, brings a touch of summer to deep midwinter.
Billed as neither opera nor play, neither musical nor musical theatre, what The Perfect Picnic achieves is an intriguing and thoroughly entertaining melange of all these elements, albeit with quite a lot of help from composer WA Mozart. With modern lyrics set to musical extracts from Cosi fan tutte, The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni and The Magic Flute, the piece tells the story of two couples enjoying an evening of opera, a picnic and a little light punting.
Picnic is at times bursting with thoroughly witty lyrics, intelligent humour, filled with lust, an occasional lament and “a car that is fairer, than a Ford Sierra, much for suitable for Sarah” and it is when the trivial subjects are discussed set to some of Mozart's fairest music that this modern opera/theatre/play delights. The humour is occasionally interspersed with more traditional arias, providing an absorbing contrast between Opera and Opera on the Run.
As a modern opera hijacking Mozart, The Perfect Picnic sounds marvellous thanks to its talented cast and pianist Kevin Lim. Cheryl Enever is a wonder as opera singer Rachael Sterling and her fraught ex-husband David, played by Tim Armstrong-Taylor brings some pathos to the picnic; Ian Bloomfield and Lynn Marie Boudreau bring their passion to the fore and their seduction scene is hilarious. These characters' lives are manipulated by Puck, a mischievous black-winged fairy/waitress, played by Clare Kinson, who unsubtly nudges the couples towards to their unavoidable happy endings.
While the performance is quite short, this went unnoticed in the cosy Jermyn Street Theatre thanks to the face to face, audience to performer, performance which heightened an experience of almost intimate opera. The music may be centuries old but the lyrics, the play and the musical theatre is thoroughly, thoroughly modern fun and an evening of delight filled "not" opera/play/musical is guaranteed.
Rachael Sterling: Cheryl Enever
Michael de Haughton Tours: Ian Bloomfield
Sarah Primrose: Lynn Marie Boudreau
David Sterling: Tim Armstrong-Taylor
Puck: Clare Kinson
Directors: Ian Bloomfield and Tim Armstrong-Taylor
2008-01-18 15:46:54