Review: The Merry Widow, Festival Theatre

Many may find themselves intimidated by the thought of attending an opera performance – myself included. I am not an expert on the form, and a small part of me feared that I may be bored or overwhelmed by Scottish Opera’s latest output, a sparkling new production of Lehár’s The Merry Widow, set in the 1950s against a backdrop of the Italian mafia. Instead, I was blown away by the performance

The storytelling is sublime, to the point that the lyrics emblazoned above the stage, as is common practice in modern opera performances, were rendered almost unnecessary. The new translation by John Savournin and David Eaton, makes every character’s motivation clear, helping the story to align with the chosen setting, and allowing for some comic moments that had the whole audience laughing. The second act is particularly strong in this respect, with the number ‘Women’ creatively reimagined to pay a nod to the idea that behind every successful man (particularly a mafia man) “there is always a dame in charge.”

The costumes, designed by Lise Bondu, are particularly stunning. From the rising of the curtain onto a party thrown for Don Zeta’s 50th birthday, the audience is greeted with a rainbow of sparkling party dresses and sharp tailored suits. The set design is similarly luscious, gilded with luxury, and the one onstage transition is done cleanly and smoothly. Perhaps a little more attention to detail could have been paid: at the close of Act One, Danilo claims that “It’s not even light…we have the rest of the night”, while the audience can see through the Manhattan penthouse’s huge windows that the sun appears to have already risen. Nonetheless, the physical reality portrayed onstage largely reflects that the characters believe themselves to inhabit, allowing an audience to truly invest themselves in the lavish world the story depicts.

Of course, in an opera, you expect to encounter singing that is almost superhuman, and that is exactly what this production delivers in spades, with every member of the cast delivering superb vocals, particularly Paula Sides, playing the eponymous Merry Widow. She and her co-lead, Alex Otterburn, have good onstage chemistry and are able to depict the romantic relationship between their characters with a great deal of charm and sincerity.

Similarly, the love triangle between Don Zeta, his wife Valentina, and her lover Camille is played well, with Rhian Lois as Valentina delivering humour, sensuality and shame in a remarkably nuanced performance.

This performance of one of the most famous operettas ever written is well worth going to see, containing a heartfelt and humorous story told brilliantly under Savournin’s direction. It is enormous fun, and as the production shortly finishes off its tour in Scotland and settles for just over a week in London’s Opera Holland Park, I look forward to seeing what else Scottish Opera will produce with the talented team of creatives they contain.

Written by Franz Lehár
Translated by: John Savournin and David Eaton
Directed by John Savournin
Produced by Scottish Opera, D’Oyly Carte Opera and Opera Holland Park

The Merry Widow is on tour until Saturday 28 June.