A king desperate to find a way to make his melancholic hypochondriac of a son, the crown prince, laugh; a clown who employs the help of tumblers and strange colourful creatures to put on a performance to get that laugh; a wizard, a sorcerer, a quest; princesses who come out of oranges and a cross-dressing chef with a overly-large bosom determined to cook everyone in a stew. No, this isn’t a pantomime for school holidays, this is the latest production of Opera Australia’s The Love For Three Oranges, composed by Prokofiev and translated by playwright Tom Stoppard (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead).
You wouldn’t be alone in your surprise, with murmurs around the Joan Sutherland theatre wondering exactly what was going on. But in any case, it is certainly a citrus-fresh presence amongst the ever-dramatic world of the opera.
My favourites on stage are the jolly Ridicules (or Cranks I believe they are sometimes called) who are the life of the party, for want of a better description. They remain on stage throughout most of the performance and offer amusements in the way of their meddling, lit with the jovial expressions and much merry chattering.
It’s always a bit of a thrill when performers make their way out into the audience and pretend they’re us too — and the little bickering across the galley between the Advocates of Tragedy and Comedy was most amusing. It definitely gives us that vibes that the performers are throwing on a little show for themselves, and makes the chaos of the tale more fun thinking they are making it up as they go along. Princesses that come out of oranges only to be transformed into a rat — absolutely! Let’s do that!
Oh and those princess dresses, wow! Ninetta (Julie Lea Goodwin) really reminded me of Amy Adam’s beautifully innocent (clueless) Giselle from Enchanted.
If it has a fault, it’s in that opera singers tend not to be the strongest actors and in such a playful story it probably really needs that extra comedic acting to pull-through a more solid performance. Nor do any of the songs necessarily stand out. This just seems like a bit more of a fun laid-back piece, to give the audience and indeed the cast a chance to let loose a little and reprieve from the worlds of betrayal and high notes.
And I could never get enough of the puns. “What a turn-up!”
Fall in love with some fruit at The Love For Three Oranges at the Sydney Opera House until July 9th. For more information and tour dates visit www.opera.org.au/
The reviewer attended the evening performance on 28th June.
Photo credit © Prudence Upton
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