A different kind of opera
A Girl, A Guy and a Lawnmower, Devised and performed by Richard Martin and Steph Hobbs; The Don, Directed by Lyndee-Jane Rutherford, musical director Thomas Nikora Bats Theatre
Local circus-type acts are common, so creating a storyline around performers flying on trapeze gear above the stage as Boomtown Okrabats have done in A Girl, A Guy and a Lawnmower, is commendable.
And even though the story is rather twee, and the dialogue lacks any finesse, Richard Martin and Steph Hobbs create an amusing scenario for themselves.
Appearing first as nuns, they relate how they ended up like this after starting out as an endearing young couple in love.
Through the telling, they engage in some basic dance routines, as well as some expertly executed trapeze acts.
And this is at the heart of the piece, showing off the couple’s acrobatic skills, especially those of Hobbs.
Climbing and soaring above the stage on swings, ropes and through hoops, the couple provide an entertaining spectacle and even though tenuously connected to the story, they do create an unusual angle.
And the lawnmower does appear, as well as the girl and the guy, in one of the dance routines.
Mozart’s well-known and wellloved tragi-comic Don Giovanni is something completely different and not expected at Bats .
This opera tells the story of the impulsive and charismatic Don Giovanni, who travels around seducing women until things go awry after he kills the father of one of his conquests. And of course, it has the well-known ending when Don Giovanni won’t repent his ways and so is consumed by fire and goes to hell.
Normally, it’s a traditional large-scale opera full of lust, passion, deception, murder and revenge, but The Don reimagines it for a solo male performer, Stuart Coates.
It retains all the elements of the original, but Coates, musical director Thomas Nikora and director Lyndee-Jane Rutherford have adapted the score and text to give it an upbeat, comic flavour, including adding in many Kiwi references.
Coates plays all the characters, male and female, and he does exceptionally well, despite at times bordering on the ridiculous and overly melodramatic.
Musically however, which is the essence of the piece, Coates shows an extraordinary ability to powerfully pump out all the arias and recitatives effortlessly, making this a very entertaining rendition of a popular Mozart opera. – Ewen Coleman