Led by the nose to a Pythonesque comic circus
THE MOST absurd thing about is the fact that anybody thought to write an opera about it in the first place. But thankfully, Shostakovich did — when he was just 21 — and a new English version of this insane comedy is bringing mayhem to Covent Garden.
It’s a whacky tale about a civil servant who wakes up one morning to discover his nose missing and spends the rest of the three-act drama trying to find it.
This over-the-top fantasy is like Monty Python’s Flying Circus on steroids.
The 80-strong cast includes zany characters, such as full-bearded men — or are they women? — dancing in French maid’s outfits, silly walks, singing half-naked policemen and a Basil Fawlty-style rant from characters in the stalls.
Even members of the orchestra shout out remarks to the singers from the pit.
The Nose itself — performed by schoolboy dancer Ilan Galkoff — has an adventure of its own before it is reunited with its owner.
Among the many highlights is a ballet of eleven human-sized, tapdancing noses. Shostakovich’s youthful music — noisy, rhythmic and abrasive — is a joy, too. It includes one section performed by a percussion ensemble.
John Tomlinson puts in a sterling performance as the drunken, foul-smelling barber who cuts off the hapless civil servant’s nose while giving him a shave — before re-appearing as the doctor who tries to stick it back on again.
The undoubted star of the evening is Martin Winkler who plays the noseless lead role of Kovalov.
This is not what many would expect from a night at the Royal Opera. It’s vulgar, four-letter words abound and a pie-seller is gang-raped on stage. But it’s all fast and furious satire that had the audience roaring with laughter. On that basis alone, is bound to run and run.