Past Production Reviews
6There’s a pleasant evening’s entertainment to be had at Merry Opera's minuscule-budget production of The Magic Flute
Merry Opera Company’s The Magic Flute uses an imaginative, sparky new translation/version by Kit Hesketh-Harvey who also directs. His central innovation is to place the opera within the sick, distraught Mozart’s life in 1791. It is a good idea which helps to make sense of the ordeals and fantasy with Mozart becoming Tamino, fellow Mason, and the original librettist, Schikaneder as Papageno and Constanza as Pamina. The dragon at the beginning has, as its scales, the unpaid bills which are plaguing both Mozart and his wife – and the opera is full of such neat touches.
Gemma Morsley’s waspy yet vulnerable Marcellina is an absolute delight, getting right to the heart of the role with her finely-honed mezzo (not to mention some fabulous dancing, handbag clutched and ready).
