Don Giovanni : The Opera @ Heaven Nightclub, London
He's come out of the closet.
Review
Picture the opera: extravagant stage back drops, women in decadent
jewellery, graceful ballerinas, men singing high pitched notes in words
which you don’t understand but pretend to nod to in melodic agreement.
Beautiful isn’t it? Now take that picture and bin it, because RC
Theatre’s remake of Mozart’s Don Giovanni isn’t anything like that.
True, the production boasts all the finery of the opera in terms of a
talented cast and noteworthy dialogue, but you can be assured that
you'll understand the songs AND be able to follow the oh-so raunchy and
quirky plot.
Staged in London’s Heaven Night Club, it's like a proper night out... so don’t expect to be seated. It's called a promenade performance, apparently. At first Itchy found ourselves whining but once the show started, we were engrossed enough to embrace the interactive feel. So if you fancy a pre-theatre drinking session we advise that you hold that thought... unless you want to be stumbling onto the set regularly.
The original production was based on the betrayal, drama and murder caused by the town’s heartbreaker Don Giovanni set in ye olde days (by which we mean the 1700s) The remake of Don Giovanni follows that very theme, except that it is set in the 80’s and our protagonist is a gay heartbreaker who owns a night club in London. So, quite different.
The story opens with Don murdering his lover Alan’s mother and fleeing from the scene with the help of his sassy PA Leo, to whom scraping Don out of trouble is but an everyday thing. Enter Eddie – Don’s ex who is finding it hard to come to terms with their break-up and stalks him (Don didn’t call, you see... standard) posing a threat to Don in hiding.
While dodging the odd murderer and stalker, Don stumbles across sweet innocent Zack from Milton Keynes, (yes, Milton Keynes) who is engaged to his childhood sweetheart, Marina. Under Don’s orders Leo distracts Marina, while Don attempts to seduce Zack. Will he be successful or not? That is for you to find out; Itchy takes pride in feeling rather smug about not being a spoiler.
The plot takes a turn when Alan’s dead mother, Petra, appears to Don as a ghost, haunting him incessantly. She gives him an ultimatum to repent for all his sins or suffer, Don being well… himself refuses and turns insane. Nice.
Well how about that! Itchy understood the plot EVEN THOUGH the whole story was delivered in a melodic opera format with an undoubtedly talented orchestra. Keep in mind that there was no speech what so ever. While traditional opera usually is about re-enacting the past, Don Giovanni attempts to reflect present day London through the characters in terms of the class system, capitalism and sexuality. Overall the performance is a worthwhile watch - in fact a particular scene involving a fireman, red-Indian and scantily clad man in golden hot pants will be etched in our minds forever - Itchy bets Mozart didn’t see that coming.
Staged in London’s Heaven Night Club, it's like a proper night out... so don’t expect to be seated. It's called a promenade performance, apparently. At first Itchy found ourselves whining but once the show started, we were engrossed enough to embrace the interactive feel. So if you fancy a pre-theatre drinking session we advise that you hold that thought... unless you want to be stumbling onto the set regularly.
The original production was based on the betrayal, drama and murder caused by the town’s heartbreaker Don Giovanni set in ye olde days (by which we mean the 1700s) The remake of Don Giovanni follows that very theme, except that it is set in the 80’s and our protagonist is a gay heartbreaker who owns a night club in London. So, quite different.
The story opens with Don murdering his lover Alan’s mother and fleeing from the scene with the help of his sassy PA Leo, to whom scraping Don out of trouble is but an everyday thing. Enter Eddie – Don’s ex who is finding it hard to come to terms with their break-up and stalks him (Don didn’t call, you see... standard) posing a threat to Don in hiding.
While dodging the odd murderer and stalker, Don stumbles across sweet innocent Zack from Milton Keynes, (yes, Milton Keynes) who is engaged to his childhood sweetheart, Marina. Under Don’s orders Leo distracts Marina, while Don attempts to seduce Zack. Will he be successful or not? That is for you to find out; Itchy takes pride in feeling rather smug about not being a spoiler.
The plot takes a turn when Alan’s dead mother, Petra, appears to Don as a ghost, haunting him incessantly. She gives him an ultimatum to repent for all his sins or suffer, Don being well… himself refuses and turns insane. Nice.
Well how about that! Itchy understood the plot EVEN THOUGH the whole story was delivered in a melodic opera format with an undoubtedly talented orchestra. Keep in mind that there was no speech what so ever. While traditional opera usually is about re-enacting the past, Don Giovanni attempts to reflect present day London through the characters in terms of the class system, capitalism and sexuality. Overall the performance is a worthwhile watch - in fact a particular scene involving a fireman, red-Indian and scantily clad man in golden hot pants will be etched in our minds forever - Itchy bets Mozart didn’t see that coming.
Tags
alternative |
London |
recommended |
to do |
ticket |
theatre |
opera |
musical |
gay |
