London Coliseum
ORPHÉE
Review by Charlotte
Forming part of the English National Opera’s Orpheus season, Orphée is a reimagining of Philip Glass’s libretto, combining live action and projection with the elegant melodies of the orchestra. As director Netia Jones said, “Orphée is a mirror of a mirror, or a ‘mise-en-abîme’ – an opera of a film [by Jean Cocteau produced in 1950] of a play of a poem of an opera”. Having become an almost forgotten poet, after being replaced by the up and coming writer Cégeste, Orphée is blinded by his ambition to achieve immortality. Although married to Eurydice, Orphée falls in love with the ‘Princess’, who is later revealed to be Death herself, and travels between the world of the living and the world of the dead.
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One of my favourite parts of the opera was the ingenious set design by Lizzie Clachan. With the aim of expressing Cocteau’s profound fascination with the mechanics and symbolism of film, Clachan projected snippets of Cocteau’s film itself, as well as videos of old technical equipment used in the creation of films, onto the cyclorama. These fragments of footage were mesmerising to the audience, almost roping them into the world of Cocteau’s film. The monochromatic theme of the set design cleverly reflected the 1950s style of black and white films, which translated well as the audience were transported to the world of the dead. I particularly enjoyed the presentation of the world of the dead, where a moving image of a grey, derelict building was projected on huge, rectangular slabs on stage. This provided a different interpretation to the traditional red and fiery portrayal of Hell; instead insinuating that Hell is an empty stretch of time, where lost souls have to spend eternity reliving their abhorrent habits. I also admired the way that Jones and Clachan reflected the idea of Orphée being a ‘mise-en-abîme’ through the incorporation of mirrors, which represented the gateways that separate the world of the living and the world of the dead. As the characters walked through these mirrors, the audience would see their actions from two angles: one from the profile perspective and the second from the cameras hidden within these passageways, thus, allowing the audience to see their every movement, which proved to be quite unsettling.
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Another magical aspect of the opera was the beautifully composed score. The most memorable moment for me was the love duet sung by the ‘Princess’ (Jennifer France) and Orphée (Nicholas Lester) in the underworld. France’s soprano voice was stunning with the amazing ability to move between incredible power to an exquisitely vulnerable whisper at a moment’s notice. Despite the fact that Orphée had betrayed Eurydice by falling in love with the ‘Princess’, in that moment I felt compelled to root for them, because the emotional quality of their singing was just phenomenal.
Although this opera is a tragedy of love and betrayal, elements of comedy shone through. One of these moments was when Heurtebise was leading Orphée into the underworld, in order to save the now dead Eurydice. Here the melodies seemed to connote a sudden urgency for the characters to move faster, despite all of the dead souls ambling excruciatingly slowly on stage.
Although this opera is a tragedy of love and betrayal, elements of comedy shone through. One of these moments was when Heurtebise was leading Orphée into the underworld, in order to save the now dead Eurydice. Here the melodies seemed to connote a sudden urgency for the characters to move faster, despite all of the dead souls ambling excruciatingly slowly on stage.
Although I thought that the blend of past with present was intriguing, made even more so with the combination of old technology with new, I was fairly confused by the plot, because it did not, at first, appear obvious to me that the mirrors symbolised the gateways into Hell. Furthermore, despite the program stating that Orphée had become obsessed with achieving immortality, I do not believe that this idea was properly conveyed to the audience; had I not read the program, I feel I would not have understood why the ‘Princess’ was in such pain at the end, when she reluctantly let her lover go to live his life with Eurydice. In fact, I had thought that Orphée’s main goal was to find the creative incentive to start writing his poems again, since he seemed to be so transfixed by his radio set.
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Overall, Orphée is an abstract interpretation of the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, which I would recommend to anyone who enjoys theatre that challenges you to think - although perhaps not the best thing to watch after a long, tiring week on a Friday night!