Glyndbourne Touring Opera

The Bartered Bride

On Saturday 12th November 1999 at the Apollo

This highly entertaining production of The Bartered Bride used fifties costumes and scenery to create a modern context for the restoration plot. The stage is flooded with people from start to finish, the size and personality of the company as a whole conveying a real sense of a town community. The action focuses on a cafe where the townspeople meet, gossip, drink and flirt and where town business is arranged and discussed. The set is typical of a post-war Czechslovakian bar, complete with rustic wooden tables, fifties clock, and glowing exit sign. As such it is a very convincing background to the human dilemmas revolving within it.

Marenka (Orla Boylan) and Jenik (Michael Konig) love each other, but Marenka’s parents have different ideas, which exclude the unknown and rather enigmatic loner for the rich but wimpy Vasek (Alasdair Elliott), son of the wealthy land owner Micha (Alan Fairs). Meanwhile a marriage broker plays everyone for as much money as possible, and succeeds, so everyone thinks, in persuading Jenik to barter his sweetheart away to his rival. Finally, as Marenka mourns the lover that betrayed her, Jenik makes a surprising announcement and saves the day.

The company combines masterful singing with talented acting. Marenka and Jenik sensitively portray an adult relationship that is mature and often complicated. Gordon Sandison and Eiddwen Harrhy as Marenka’ parents capture the combination of affectionate concern and misguided interference that afflicts most parents. Alisdair Elliott as Vasek, a character that is both farcical and pathetic, is also rather lovable, and gets one of the loudest cheers at the end. frnces McCafferty as Vasek’s mother is also worth a mention, as despite her relatively small role she conveys a strong and amusing personality.

The folk dance performed by Marenka and her friends to the older people of the town is a cheerful interlude, which has the audience watching an audience watch a show. Another brilliant piece is the intervention of a ‘Real English Circus’ that has, the ringleader announces nasally, come all the way from Swindon, Eastbourne, and other exotic locations. We are treated to a whirling display of fire-eaters, jugglers magicians and a trapeze artist, and the mixture of cockney cursing and operatic phrases proves extremely funny - especially in the case of the Indian, played by Martyn Sharp, who is tremendously camp. Why the circus, you might be wondering, but I will leave you in suspense, for it is just another attraction of this diverse and accessible opera.

Wonderful - A Must-See...

Jane Labous