Rating: ****
If Puccini’s original had copulated with a soap opera based in East-London, this would be their love child – and it is amazing.
Previously inaccessible to anyone who hadn’t studied the original Italian, Robert Chevara and Kfir Yefet give us a modernisation of La Fanciulla del West, translated as West End Girl. It tells the story of Minnie, who runs an internet café in Soho frequented by immigrants and lurkers of the Albanian underworld, one of whom she falls in love with: ‘Vik’ Johnson, a man she is forced to play poker to save from Jack Rock, his rival. The three leads are double cast and were backed by Edmund Hastings, Simon Meadows and Matthew Stiff, who played Nik, Sonora and Yuri.
A tiny cast in a theatre that is half stage, half pub, with only a pianist and a very expressive violinist for an orchestra should not be able to produce Opera this moving. It is simply amazing, and the only thing that could count as a flaw is the physicality of the stage, but as the Assistant Director, Holly Aston, pointed out, it allows the intense nature of the material to be broken down and be made more accessible to those who have never seen an opera before. And damn was she right.
Laura Parfitt (Minnie)
The actress playing Minnie (Laura Parfitt, doubled by Demelza Stafford), managed to stay ahead of the game, even though technical hitches prevented the smooth operation that had been rehearsed. She gave a jaw-dropping performance with her soprano vocals which could probably be heard three doors down. She would certainly be much more at home in a theatre much larger than the Kings Head. The two male leads stole the show, as Vik (Ben Thapa, doubled by Adam Crockatt) showed visible tenderness in his attempts to woo Minnie, and Jack (Tom Stoddart, doubled by Tom Bullard) drew you in, his psychological anguish causing minor disambiguation between act and speech during the second act.
Conjuring images of Phantom of the Opera with props and inflections, and Jerry Springer the Opera in terms of language and up-to-date references, a truer modern Opera could not be found. Whether an operatic-veteran or a novice, this show represents something for everyone: a new take on a complex piece well-worked, as well as a gorgeous introduction to the world of opera for those less experienced.
La Fanciulla del West plays at the King’s Head Theatre, London, N1 1QN until 3 March 2012. Tickets are £10-25. To book call 0207 478 0160 or visit www.kingsheadtheatre.com
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