The Magic Flute Music: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Libretto: Emanuel Schnikaneder, Birmingham Repertory Theatre, 6 Centenary Square, B1 2EP

4✩✩✩✩ Review: Joanna Jarvis.

“A delightful and funny rendering of Mozart’s final opera.”

This is a new imagining of Mozart’s surreal opera The Magic Flute. The hero, Prince Tamino must rescue his love, Pamina, the kidnapped daughter of the Queen of the Night. He is joined in his quest by the hapless bird catcher Papageno, whose only wish is for a glass of wine at night and a loving woman to dangle on his knee. They are caught between the opposing forces of the Queen of the Night and Sarastro, keeper of the sun.

Papageno enters at the beginning of the opera pursued by a serpent. Here represented by three women menacing him in frilled skirts of blood red taffeta. He faints in fright, and they morph into three women, maids to the queen, who drool over the beautiful man lying before them. The three take on the roles of the three spirits, and some minor characters to steer the action throughout. Thus, we are set up to navigate the convoluted plot of this opera.

Eleanor Oldfield, Martha Jones and Abbie Ward, with beautifully matched voices, bring real power to the three women. The Queen of the Night, sung by Luci Briginshaw, gives full vent to her anger and desire for revenge as she challenges her daughter to kill Sarastro. Richard Dowling as Tamino and Gareth Brynmor John as Papageno with rich voices, offer variety, emotion and humour to their characters. Sarastro, sung by Edward Hawkins lends depth to the strong immovable force of the sun. Natasha Page as Pamina, provides her character with both strength and delicacy, pairing beautifully with Tamino.

It is a pleasure to see the small orchestra in full view encircling the action at the back of the stage. Their arrangement echoing the circular light of the sun at the centre of the setting. Sophie Lincoln’s design gives us this motif as a focus for the action, overshadowed by the blue light of night. Unfortunately, this was slightly lost in the huge space of the Repertory Theatre stage, with the dramatic lighting suffering from having to fill such a big area. Lincoln’s costumes also give an eclectic and colourful highlight to the slightly pantomimic nature of the narrative.

Wild Arts’ ensemble of singers and orchestra driven by a lively English translation, gives us a bright, sparkling and funny rendering of Mozart’s final opera.

Cast:

Pamina – Natasha Page

Tamino – Richard Dowling

Queen of the Night – Luci Briginshaw

Papageno – Gareth Brynmor John

Sarastro – Edward Hawkins

First Lady – Eleanor Oldfield

Second Lady – Martha Jones

Third Lady – Abbie Ward

Monostatos – Ben Thapa

Papagena – Daniella Sicari

Speaker – Henry Wright

Priest – Lachlan Craig

Creatives:

Director – James Hurley

Musical Director – Orlando Jopling

Designer – Sophie Lincoln

Translation – Jeremy Sams