Il Barbiere di Siviglia, July-August 2024

Opera Kipling - Upstairs at the Gatehouse, UK / Théâtre Basse Passière, France / Rottingdean Arts, UK

After the critical success and multiple nominations of Hansel und Gretel and La Cenerentola for the Camden Fringe, Opera Kipling asked me back to direct Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia. Aimed at new opera audiences as well as opera veterans, this production set the piece in the Mod era of the early 1960s, with the younger generation in conflict with the old, establishment challenging pop stars on the ascendant, and mind altering music and substances being consumed and leaving nothing unchanged in their wake…

Direction and Lighting Design: Guido Martin-Brandis; Set and Costume design: Laura Curry; Producers: Laura Curry and Robert Tilson, Wig technician: Cristina Semertzaki

Figaro - Alex Jones

Count Almaviva - Robert Tilson

Rosina - Laura Curry

Bartolo - Massimo Modoni

Basilio - Geoff Clapham

Music Director - Giannis Giannopoulos

Reviews

Jane Darcy - The Reviews Hub - 4 stars

★★★★

“The Barber of Seville is another imaginative production by Opera Kipling. With a cast of just five and a neatly abridged version, it’s perfect for Camden Fringe.

It’s set in the 1960s, which allows for funny changes. As the ward of the repressive Bartolo, Rosina at first wears a demure full skirt. But having fallen for Lindoro, she’s ready to rock, with an on-trend shift dress, knee-length boots and a fabulous beehive.

Lyric soprano and producer, Laura Curry, invests her Rosina not just with glorious singing, but with great comic energy. Her facial expressions when crossed by her guardian are hilarious.

But it’s Alexander Jones as Figaro who commands the show, brilliantly performing ‘Largo al factotum’. His comic business is hilarious. Offered a gold coin by Lindoro, he makes out in ‘All’idea di quel metallo’ that the gold is actually talking to him, inspiring his effervescent schemes. Later, in a lovely moment that squeezes in a lot of plot, he becomes the off-stage police officer responding to a call by playing a kazoo down the phone.

Geoff Clapham’s Don Basilio is a fabulous piece of physical comedy. He struts in wearing an orange wig and a slightly demented stare. His advice to smear the Count, ‘La calunnia è un venticello,’ is magnificent. Then, in a great move (hats off to director Guido Martin-Brandis), he is offered mysterious blue pills and starts to hallucinate (cue a quick psychedelic experience staged by the others). Next time he enters, he’s gone full stoned hippy, with long flowing hair and a flowery headband.

A lovely introduction to Rossini’s opera.”

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Hilary Nichols - Red Bus Londinium Life - 4 stars

★★★★

“The production relocates the action to a swinging 1960s music hub, all bold colour and youthful independence, with Almaviva reimagined as a Mod-styled pop star trying to win Rosina’s heart from under the nose of her overbearing guardian Bartolo. Costumes drew their colour and pattern from the era, and the whole staging was appealing to look at.

Jones is agile and energetic but also commanding, and gets Figaro right into the middle of everything.There’s real gravitas in there alongside the comic timing, which is a harder trick than it looks in a role that could easily tip into pure clowning.

Robert Tilson is very appealing and believable as Count Almaviva, a proper 1960s LP-cover pin-up. Massimo Modoni’s Don Bartolo is the performance I’d point people toward: he fully embraces the role’s pompous, ridiculous nature, playing the stock comic figure with real confidence and instinct, so that Bartolo’s absurdity is clear from the moment he appears.

What struck me most, though, was the sheer quality of the singing across the board. This is genuinely strong voice work, and hearing it at such close range, in a room the size of Upstairs at the Gatehouse, is a real treat: you don’t often get to sit close enough to a working opera cast to see every expression land. The ensemble were uniformly strong and impeccably together in the fast, tightly packed passages that Rossini is famous for.”

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Fi Mead McNish - Mark Aspen Reviews

“The energetic and inventive Opera Kipling presents Rossini’s The Barber of Seville in their trademark, re-imagined way. OK have placed their version in the mod era of the 1960s, allowing for some colourful costumes and a cheeky burst of sixties song in the second act.

funny moments and a bright colour palette that makes it all feel very jolly. this production is fun and funny, the music is wonderful and there are some rousing duets. The ensemble pieces raised the roof of the small theatre, and there is so much talent on stage.

Geoff Clapham as Don Basilio is unquestionably the standout of the production, delivering his role with rich, resonant bass-baritone warmth. He sustains every note with impressive control and brings a deft, genuinely comic touch to his performance.

a lovely, enjoyable production… entertaining, imaginative and accessible opera”