Deborah Warner’s term as Artistic Director is something to make a song and dance about.
Christine Rice as Phaedra | Photo © Tristram Kenton
These two intense and expressive pieces at the Ustinov Studio challenge the audience and bring the world of classical mythology alive.
Benjamin Britten wrote his ‘Phaedra’ towards the end of his life for the great mezzo Janet Baker. Originally intended as a concert piece, it is here staged as a searing monodrama.
Phaedra has realised the enormity of her illicit love for her stepson Hippolytus. Tormented by guilt, she prepares to kill herself.
Christine Rice makes the role completely her own: she takes us on an emotional journey equivalent to a full-length opera, with vocalism that ranges from near-whisper to exultant shout, allied to anguished physicality and direct human expressiveness.
Britten’s orchestral score loses some colour when adapted for the piano, but Richard Hetherington was a persuasive and powerful accompanist.
Kim Brandstrup’s ‘Minotaur’ is a completely new piece. A narrative dance work, it mirrors the story of Ariadne, Theseus and the Minotaur. It brings these timeless figures vividly to life, through a physical vocabulary that melds elements of contemporary dance with more conventional ‘classical’ narrative.
In a cave-like space and to a score combining folk and classical styles, the three dancers portray their inter-relationships in a fluid style of great beauty and vigour.
The aerial artistry of Tommy Franzen, using climbing wall hand holds, was a stunning highlight, as were the duets between Laurel Dalley Smith and Jonathan Goddard.
The double-bill runs until 23rd August. Deborah Warner’s next production is Purcell’s ‘Dido and Aeneas’ from 14th October.
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Reviewer: Niall Hoskin
