A most ingenious contrivance – and Fanny is delightful!
Mansfield Park by Jonathan Dove, libretto by Alasdair Middleton, based on the Jane Austen novel. New Zealand Opera. Director: Rebecca Meltzer; Maestro Concertatore: Brad Cohen. Public Trust Hall. April 17-18 (Wellington) and April 21 (Auckland).
Dear Cousin – I must tell you of the Splendid Entertainment we had last night, at the opera. A most ingenious contrivance – Mansfield Park, but with just 10 singers, one small stage & by way of accompaniment, four hands at the piano.
It was all very sprightly, I must say: the scenes quite short, the singers circulating rapidly & the chapter titles sung in the archest manner imaginable. Of course one loses something of the subtlety of the book when the action is so compressed! But then the ensemble work is superb, and even if one could wish for a little more variety in Mr
Dove’s musical writing, still it rattles along in fine style. I thought the pianists particularly good.
All eyes were on Ms Fanny Price, as you can imagine – and she does not disappoint. Her kind of tired watchfulness, as a poor cousin pressed into service by the terribly grand Bertrams, was everything one could have wished. Some call her character Insipid, but it is nothing of the sort – indeed she finds her inner strength in a most delightful and natural way; and what a pleasure it is to see those adventurers the Crawfords thwarted in their designs for respectable matches with the Bertram family – not that the latter can escape Censure.
I am not sure that the actors were quite so comfortable having to sing and dance at the same time. And the Public Trust Hall is only passably good – just grand enough. But otherwise the play was excellent, I assure you.
Kristin Darragh is given quite a small part, as Lady Bertram, but has a great deal of fun with it, and her dark-hued voice is – could you doubt it? – as charming as ever. The comic turns, too, from Michaela Cadwgan (Julia Bertram) and Andrew Grenon (Mr Rushworth) – nothing could have been better. The latter is as good an idiot in a yellow tailcoat as you could hope to find.
We thought highly, too, of Sarah Mileham as Maria Bertram – a fine voice, and excessively pretty – and Robert Tucker as her father, Sir Thomas. (You know what a splendid actor he is.) And as to Joanna Foote, playing that insolent Mary Crawford … “Before her softest look, the towers of Independence fall” – it was very well said.
I wish the gentlemen in the leading roles had not been so stiff & unbending; a little more expression and intensity would not have gone amiss, I think. But Joel Amosa’s voice really is marvellous – it has youthful heroism but also that quality some call gravitas, and in the end I quite believed him as a love-struck Edmund. All in all, cousin, we were very well Entertained.
Yours &c, MR.
Takina, April 19-21, various times and prices
Not only large works – there will be over 4000 artworks on show from many mediums – wall art of all descriptions, ceramics, jewellery, and object art galore. “Art For Everyone” including award winning works and award presentations. Tickets and info: theartshow. co.nz
Berhampore Film Fair Berhampore pop up shop, 458 Adelaide Rd, April 19, 3pm-6pm, April 20, 10am-4pm, free
We're getting nostalgic with a film fair set in a recreated retro video store: Thousands of movies on DVD and Blu-ray, cult, collectable, mainstream and bargains. Toys, models, pop culture, posters, film props, something for everyone.
Songwriters’ Showcase #82
Moon, Newtown, April 21, 6.30pm, $12-$15
Featured performers: Luca Joass, Wandering Thyme, M J Kennedy, Don and the Divorcees.
Jamie Berry, presents ‘Uru’
Glover Park, to April 28, free
Jamie Berry presents ‘Uru’, a developing work, in collaboration with & Josiah Jordan and a raft of talented performers. The outdoor project will act as an anchor for the artist's complementary ‘Uru’ working residency at 113 Taranaki St.
Songs of Travel
The Wellington Male Voice Choir, Tawa College Hall, April 21, 2pm, $25
Join the Wellington Male Voice Choir in a musical journey through Africa, Asia, Europe and North America.