London Districts

March 8, 2023September 17, 2023

London West End Theatre – Make the Right Choice

London West End theatre offers a dizzying choice. I go to the theatre most nights and I have some tips on how to to avoid a dud.

Begin by Choosing the Right London West End Theatre

My success lies mostly in selecting the right venue…that’s right, the venue is absolutely key. Each theatre has a budget for a play which determines all critical factors like its director, cast and set design. The better known West End theatres simply have bigger budgets! And that means one thing, more razzmatazz!

Different London West End theatres are known for producing different types of plays. Here is a general guide.

The Dominion and The Palladium are the Biggest Theatres in the West End

The Palladium is one of the biggest theatres the London West End. Expect block busters.

The theatres with the highest seating capacity are more likely to produce “blockbusters” with mass appeal. Theatres like the Palladium and the Dominion need to fill thousands of seats each evening they won’t put on esoteric play that would be attractive to only a small sector of the theatre-going public. And as they have bigger stages, you are likely to find large cast musicals with elaborate stage effects…think cars, helicopters and aerial stunts.

The Savoy is one of the Smallest but Most Stylish Theatres in the London West End

The Savoy Theatre was rebuilt in 1929 as a magic miracle of Art Deco modernism, by Rupert D’Oyly Carte with the architect Frank Tugwell and decorative designer Basil Ionides.

I always think that its productions echo the values of the adjacent Savoy Hotel that shares its name; classy, stylish and with plenty of glamour. Expect music, beautiful costumes, dancing girls, clever staging. And there are some lovely bars which let you bask in its jazz age setting.

The Trafalgar Theatre is known for its Avant Garde Productions

The Trafalgar Theatre specialises in productions that are vibrant and cutting edge. The smaller of the two studios is a stage in the round where you feel that you are on set with the performers. Often portraying harrowing, or controversial subject matter, the performances are emotional and breathtaking.

Pay Attention to the Playwright and Casting at the Duke of York, the Garrick, the Noel Coward, the Wyndhams, the Vaudeville, the Adelphi, the Lyric, the Vaudeville, the Theatre Royal

Dotted around St Martins Lane, The Strand and Haymarket are a number of theatres primarily owned by the Ambassador Theatre Group, Delfont Mackintosh and Nimax. You can expect to see a wide range of plays and musicals with everything from everything from Ibsen to Meat Loaf. It’s hard to generalise about these productions so pay special attention to the playwright, reviews and casting.

Theatres Outside the London West End That Offer a Unique Experience

The National Theatre on Southbank Has a Wide Arts Remit

The brutalist, concrete exterior of the National Theatre

The National Theatre on the South Bank is state subsidised theatre with a remit to promote the arts to the widest possible and most diverse audience. Here you will find productions of high artistic merit. The NT usually push the boat out with their special effects, sounds and lighting systems. There are three stages at the NT, the largest stage is The Olivier and there is a smaller, newer theatre, The Dorfman, at the rear of the building, which I always feel is more akin to the Young Vic…showing avant garde productions appealing to a younger, Converse trainer wearing audience.

The Globe and The Sam Wanamaker Produce Memorable Shakespearean and Revival Plays

The Globe is a specialist Shakespearian Theatre which produces authentic Shakespearian drama. As far as the Board of Directors is concerned, this means mostly two things, “shared light” and “no voice amplification”.

‘Shared light’ is able to provide an atmosphere wherein the people onstage are playing ‘with’ rather than ‘to’ or ‘at’ those in the audience.

A few years ago, the Globe hired a brilliant artistic director, Emma Rice, who introduced stage lighting and microphones but this wasn’t really “Shakespeare” so she fell on her sword. You can find out more about this controversy on The Guardian website.

This is the place where men and woman “shout Shakespeare” and it all makes for a historically accurate and riveting Shakespearian experience.

If you are on a budget with a lot of stamina, you can buy standing tickets for £5 per performance. Those that do so, are called “groundlings”

However, not many groundlings can last the full duration of the play. The staff have a special mission to make sure that groundlings don’t lean on the wooden posts, or sit on the floor!

The Globe is only open during the summer months as there is an open roof. Wrap up warmly if you are attending an evening performance and hire a cushion if you don’t relish sitting for several hours on a hard bench.

Inside the Globe there is a newer theatre, The Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, which is a little wooden timbered and stencilled, jewel box of a theatre, lit by candles. It specialises in small period plays. This is one of my favourite theatres – small, intimate and with a special atmosphere.

The Old Vic and the Young Vic Theatres in Waterloo Offer Unusual and Unique Plays

The Old Vic and The Young Vic are two completely different kettles of fish.

The Old Vic is a not-for-profit beautiful and slightly decaying, grand, traditional theatre with historic decor performing high quality drama and musicals. Famed for its £10 previews…I am still gutted when I think of the performances there that I have missed.

The Young Vic is an offshoot of the Old Vic aiming at a hip and cool younger audience (diverse and engaged) with cutting edge material performed in the round.

Frank Dunlop, the Young Vic director, wanted to create a new kind of theatre for a new generation – one that was unconventional, classless, open, circus-like and cheap.

The Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre Offers a Memorable Experience in All Weathers

The Regents Park Open Air theatre is not in the London West End…you’ll find it in the middle of Regents Park. I remember my first visit to the Regents Park Open Air Theatre and how I kept double checking the weather forecast and the night temperatures. Not least as their plays always proceed almost regardless of the weather.

A lovely, balmy sunny day where you are donning sun hats and slathering on sun scream quickly becomes a night of freezing temperatures, where you are rustling in your bag for hats, scarfs and thick coats and even blankets. Rain rarely deters this theatre either. They will stop the performance for a few minutes and the audience hurries to the bar and prays for it to stop.

This theatre epitomises “summer in the city” for me…you can get there early and walk through the confetti-like rose garden, grab a drink or a pizza in the park cafe or hire a deckchair in the park before the show.

The theatre opens two hours beforehand to enable people to eat their picnics or indulge in their legendary burgers that are barbecued in the garden.

And then there is the excitement of the show and the the thrill of the weather!

Other London West End Theatre Considerations

Playwright

Don’t sail blythely into a production if your unaware of the genre of the play. For example Samuel Beckett or Jean Paul Sartre plays usually have a small cast and a dystopian theme…think half a dozen people locked in a room, sitting on a sofa, or a woman up to her neck in rubble for the duration of the first act.

Plays by Eugene O’Neill or Tennessee Williams may be set in the American mid west and explore themes of alienation and the American Dream. Hard work for some!

Or a historical reenactment of Webster’s Duchess of Malfi will have blood, guts and madness at his heart with a rendition in Jacobean English.

Everyone has their own tastes but make sure that you choose a play that best suits your particular palate.

Cast

Famous names, like Simon Russell Beale, famed for his Shakespearian roles and Maggie Smith, of Downton Abbey fame, will only appear in top notch productions. So check the cast as this can indicate the strength of the play.

Press Reviews

I have often seen amazing performances that the critics have hated. Sometimes I think that we have been to two different plays! Therefore, I don’t pay too much attention to an isolated poor review. However, if the play is consistently poorly reviewed across a range of media, you want to consider giving it a miss or buy a cheaper seat, so that you have less invested.

Look at the Theatre Website in Advance

The play will be promoted on the London West End theatre’s website. You will doubtless find a gallery of photographs and possibly a video as well. The synopsis, costumes and cast list should give you an accurate flavour of the production.

The theatre management may have also uploaded to Youtube.

It is invariably forbidden to use your phone for video or audio recording within a theatre.

Check that Seasonal Specials are to your Taste

At Christmas, it is common for theatres in the West End to put on pantomimes and Christmas themed productions like Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. It will explain on the website if these productions are suitable for children and adults alike.

Don’t make my mistake and go to see The Snowman and find yourself surrounded by an audience of toddlers in fancy dress waving fairy wands.

General London West End Seating Tips

The most expensive seats in a London West End theatre are the front row of the stalls and the boxes. The boxes have more prestige but often have a slightly restricted view as they are usually at right angles to the stage.The front rows of the dress circle are also good seats. As you move further towards the back row the view can be slightly restricted or you feel further away from the action. In the Upper Circle, you will definitely benefit from bringing opera glasses. Some theatres have a further level knowns as the Balcony or the Ampitheatre. Seats here can be surprisingly cheap and it is a good way of trying out something that isn’t in your usual genre.

Are you also an opera fan? If so you may enjoy our tips on a night at the London opera. You can also check out our blog post on how London Theatre’s achieve their ultra realistic special effects.

With these tips you are well equipped to make the best London West End theatre choices.

March 7, 2023September 16, 2023

The Brasserie Zedel Set Menu is Surprising Good Value

The Brasserie Zedel Set Menu is the star of the show. Brasserie Zedel has to be one of my favourite venues in London. Hidden away in a Piccadilly basement, it has the feel of a luxury Art Deco transatlantic liner with beautifully remodelled 1930s interiors. For such splendour and luxury, it’s amazing to find that it has a couple of fixed priced set menus that are surprisingly good value.

Brasserie Zedel Set Menu is Surprisingly Good Value

The first thing to say is don’t be suspicious…I have studied the Brasserie Zedel staffing and the chef is a fully trained expert in those unctuous cream and wine sauces and crispy, slender frites that epitomise French cuisine. Each member of the waiting staff has a full week of training and embodies all the service values of luxury hotels and dining establishments. And the small details of authentic Parisian glasses and bespoke linens transport the diner to another place and age.

Crystal Chandelier in the Restaurant Foyer

Corbin and King, who own many upmarket restaurants including Colbert in Chelsea and The Wolseley in Mayfair, have kept true to the history of Brasserie Zedel with very democratic pricing.

And now on to the menus…

The Brasserie Zedel Set Menu Options

Brasserie Zedel has a three course Menu Formule which at £27.95 includes a glass of wine, or bottled water, and the Prix Fixe at £16.95 or £19.75 which is a two or three course menu and doesn’t include a drink. Note that ordering tap water here raises no eye brows. If you were thinking of a glass of house red or white with your meal you will find that both of the Brasserie Zedel set menus work out at about the same price.

First Rate Service at the Brasserie Zedel

French Bread and Butter

This is arguably the best part of the meal! I have friends who are on strict low carb diets who devour the entire bread basket and are on their second basket before the starter arrives. The French bread has a deep, slightly sour crust and a soft spongy interior. I defy anyone to find better bread in the whole of London and it comes with a small porcelain dish of butter with a paper seal. And the best part of it is that the restaurant does not charge extra for bread and butter on either of the Brasserie Zedel Set Menus.

If you are looking to read about another French Restaurant at the other end of the price spectrum read our review of Les 110 de Taillevent.

The Formule

Celeriac Remoulade
Celeriac Remoulade is a big hit with the French and hardly known over here. The grated root of the celery tasting like a cross between fresh celery stalk and turnip or swede, is mixed with a mustard mayonnaise. I like it and sometimes make it at home using a Jamie Oliver recipe. Some may find this an acquired taste but on the occasions when I have asked for a swap for something else on the menu it has been refused.

Blanquette of Lamb or Fillet of Sea Bream

I am hugely impressed with the main course of the Formule. The sea bream in is nicely cooked and seasoned prior to pan frying.

Tarte au Citron

Forget those bland English lemon meringue pies that taste of cornflour or worse still Green’s packet mix, this generous portion transports you to the finest of French patisseries. It has a delicate, lemon cream custard filling on a pastry base with an oozing soft meringue topping with just the right degree of caramelisation.

My Verdict on the Brasserie Zedel Set Menu – Formule

I have to give this 9.5 stars as I can’t really see how it could be bettered…although I personally would prefer the pea soup for a starter. It represents astonishing value for money.

The Prix Fixe

Carrot Salad

Many people expect a mound of raw grated carrots and are surprised by the flavour imparted by the dijon mustard dressing.

I am personally delighted that they have added the Minted Pea Soup with Creme Fraiche as an alternative starter option.

Chopped Steak Américain
The hamburger of minced steak comes with the option of having it cooked either slightly pink (medium) or well done, served in a cream peppercorn sauce with a side serving of a cone of finely cut, hot salted, crispy, French fries.

Absolutely delicious!

Brasserie Zedel has now added a vegetarian main course to its set menu. This is Butter Dhal.

Chocolate and Caramel Tart
The Manjari tart has a crisp biscuit base with a chocolate ganache filling. It is very rich and chocolatey and the perfect end to the meal.

My Verdict on the Brasserie Zedel Set Menu – Prix Fixe
Whenever, I am in Piccadilly I find myself on autopilot heading for the brasserie to have this set menu. So this menu also gets a 9 star rating from me! Maybe it could do with a green salad but this can be purchased separately for £4.75.

If this food was purchased individually on the A La Carte Menu it would cost in the region of £18.

The one thing that used to amuse me at Brasserie Zedel is that they offered the French menu to everyone regardless. The French speaking staff probably entertained themselves with the hilarious, customer mispronunciations. I now see that the menu is in English and no translations are required. To see the full menu online click this link Brasserie Zedel Menu

If you have enjoyed this blog post on the Brasserie Set Menu you may want to look at our piece on The Swan at the Globe which is a Modern British restaurant.

March 7, 2023June 23, 2023

The Swan at the Globe – Restaurant Review

We sauntered in to the Swan at the Globe late, thirsty and ravenous, after a socially distanced performance of As You Like It which lacked an interval in these Covid times. And within minutes we were ensconced on a velvet sofa sipping Bloody Marys and tucking into the very best of English fayre. Hot tasty, crispy, succulent – all foodie adjectives could be employed here to excess.

Perfect British Cuisine at the Swan at the Globe

The Swan at the Globe has a Modern British Menu – so think Fish and Chips, Shepherds Pie, Scotch Eggs, Sausage Rolls, Welsh Rarebit and Sticky Toffee Pudding…all scrumptious and uniquely English things – the stuff of nursery rhymes and fairy tales.

The Swan at the Globe is moderately priced when compared with the very average meals that you could have in the nearby chain restaurants on London’s Bankside.

Restaurant Setting

There are few places in London that are in such a grand setting overlooking the Thames and Saint Paul’s and bang next to The Globe and The Tate Modern. The rear terrace overlooks the Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre courtyard with its thatched half-timbered playhouse.

The Swan has a Backdrop of St Paul's and the Thames — The Swan has a Backdrop of St Paul’s and the Thames

Dress Code

So why am I dressed in sequins? And what does this tell us about the the Swan dress code? I am of the view that you can never be too smart! The Swan at the Globe gets a lot of people coming in from the theatre next door. So my advice is to dress up but leave your tiara, floor length ball gown or a tuxedo at home. And if you are wearing street casual wear, no one will bat an eyelid. It’s hard to feel out of place in this welcoming restaurant.

The Swan at the Globe Drinks Menu

As a “real drinker” and a connoisseur of Bloody Marys, this one was the cat’s whiskers and pyjamas. Nicely and delicately spiced and garnished with an emperor of an olive. It had a real kick to it…no stinting on the vodka.

The cocktail menu is fairly extensive with most mixed drinks falling squarely in the London average of £11 – £14.

Their Bloody Mary is the finest in London

An emperor of an olive tops the Swan's Bloody Mary — An emperor of an olive tops the Swan’s Bloody Mary

Restaurant Menu

It didn’t sound like the most exciting of choices – fish and chips and shepherds pie but the joy was in their culinary execution.

Many is the time that I have walked past their basement kitchens and seen giant pieces of battered cod waiting to be taken to the dining room and large vats of oil frying chips. And my companions declared that this was perfectly cooked, white, moist and flakey with a crispy batter.

Moist, Flaky White, Juicy Fish. A Swan at the Globe legend.

My shepherds pie would have delighted any shepherd from any Shakespeare play. It was filling and meaty, with a perfectly piped creamed mashed potato topping and the beans were drenched in butter, cooked al dente with a sprinkling of shallots.

A Shepherd's Pie fit for a Shakespearian Shepherd — A Shepherd’s Pie fit for a Shakespearian Shepherd

Service

Fantastic…attentive but not too much!

Tears fell from our eyes when we considered the solitary hardships of lockdown, the nights spent on the sofa watching Netflix and the missed dining opportunities. And then we shed a few more tears as we congratulated ourselves on discovering such a comfortable and enveloping venue. I see that we are going to be eating and drinking and theatre going here to excess.

If you enjoyed this post you may also like our review of the Brasserie Zedel in Piccadilly.

To book a visit to the Swan at the Globe Restaurant visit their website.

March 7, 2023August 20, 2023

A Herd of Elephants in Green Park

Elephants in Green Park. Whatever next? We see a lot in London! I barely bat an eyelid when I come across Bengali cats being walked on leads by their owners, pirates with peg legs and squawking parrots, inflated Donald Trump balloons boasting an orange perma tan…but this herd of elephant statues really gave me pause for thought.

Elephants in Green Park Come From India

Dozens of elephants, old and young, fit and frail are crafted in the Nilgiri Hills of India out of the weedy, reed like stem, Lantana Camara. This plant poses a threat to wildlife as it is poisonous, so it’s great to seeing it being hacked down and put towards a good cause.

This exhibition is the brain child of Shubhra Nayar and Ruth Ganesh has been facilitated and promoted by HRH Prince Charles and his wife Camilla to draw attention to the elephants fragile co-existence with man. Camilla’s brother Mark Shand ran an elephant charity before his death.

The elephants in Green Park have been beautifully characterised.

Close up of the reed like stems used to make the elephants

The tails of the elephants in Green Park

But what got me thinking as I surveyed this woody procession was how we as humans depend on each other.

The Power of the Herd

Think of the solitary human, perhaps a cold and dishevelled homeless person begging on a grimy London pavement, with a paper cup containing a few coins at their feet. Or an elderly man who, after a life time of work, is cast alone on his sofa, slowly dunking digestive biscuits into his tea with daytime television as his only source of company.

Now let us transport our fictitious humans to the convivial atmospheres of outreach shelters, community cafes, tea after church on Sundays or strolling round London on a walking tour, in the background there is chatter, laughter, warmth and friendship and now you can see the power of community.

This exquisite herd of elephants in Green Park reminds us of both the vulnerability of the solitary individual and how our very survival is dependent on our proximity to each other.

If you liked this piece you may want to visit our blog post on Richmond Park where there is plenty of living wildlife.

Sadly, this was a temporary exhibition and the elephants have moved on to new pastures. Some have been sold to adorn people’s gardens and the good news is that these elephants are still available for sale if you have a spare £6k-£30k one of these elephants in Green Park could be yours! Check them out.

You may also want to donate to the Coexistence Elephant charity.

March 7, 2023September 17, 2023

Hello World – Welcome to Londonology

Hello World When I started this blog in the darkest part of the third lockdown, I didn’t know anything about blogging but I did know a fair bit about how to crawl round London, have a fabulous time and make my money stretch stratospherically. In fact, I had such a good time I retired! But now is the time to take this blogging malarkey up a level.

Defining My Audience

Who are you?
Where are you?
Why are you here?

I’m going to find out!

Me (maybe you are like me) I’m not in my first flush of youth, I struggle with tube staircases and I like to stop frequently for a gin and tonic but I don’t believe that this has any bearing on my ability to hang out in town with my mates and have fun.

People of our age are often wedged into small places where we think that joining a book club, going to church evensong or fraternising with our neighbours is the place to be. Of course, there’s no harm in that…whatever floats your boat but it doesn’t really appeal to me. For all my introversion and reticence, I like adventure…dark jazz dives, transvestite night clubs (sequins, lipstick), swish hotel bars and sumptuous opera performances (and please invite me to the after party).

I say to myself, as I struggle out to the house wearing something inappropriate, that nothing was ever achieved sitting on the sofa.

So I would love to know who you are and how you spend your time. And please subscribe, so we can virtually hang out together.

Promoting My Blog

I feel that I have held back on both promoting my blog and getting it seen. This is partly because I wanted it to have some substance before showing it off in all its peacock feathers and partly because I hadn’t properly defined what I wanted to write about and who I wanted to touch.

London, it turns out is a big subject!

Creating a Blog Schedule

One of my first goals is going to be to write a blog schedule and identify some hot topics that I feel that all Londonologists have to know about. And if you can think of any great subjects, please let me know.

Finding My Blogging Voice

In real life, I guess I am amusing in a rather dry, understated, satirical way but when I am let loose with a keyboard I can thrash around, mix my metaphors and ping off some zany stuff. I can see that in terms of my writing style, I have been holding back, so you may find future posts that sound a bit more like I do in the flesh but on steroids as it were.

I hadn’t really realised this until I took an amazing course at Cambridge University on Blogging and Online Writing run by Louise Daisy Johnson. What a great tutor she has been, she’s so energetic, knowledgeable and positive. All her insights on my work have been revelatory. Daisy blogs about children’s fiction at Did You Ever Stop To Think.

Optimising My Blog

The buzz that I get out of my blog is mostly in the writing of it but that is not enough. It has to reach a wider audience and I have been struggling with Search Engine Optimisation. I have the vaguest idea of what to do but I haven’t done enough of it. So in the coming days I am going to sort out my blog posts and optimise the hell out of them. I am using this book by Will Coombe called 3 Months to No 1.

Blogging During the Third Lockdown

In the midst of Covid we weren’t able to leave the house which was immensely frustrating as all I wanted to do was race round town taking photos and doing blog research. Instead, I was confined to my office in my mismatching PJs trying to figure out how to get a passable blog up without any technical support and relying on desk research and library photographs.

Apart from some cut price Wix hosting I spent nada – well almost nada…£16 on a logo. But there is clearly a way to go in terms of making this blog truly original and, most of all, useful to my readers. So expect more original content and photos shot by my own fair hand.

An Anonymous Blogger

My journey to this point really started late one night when I was at the end of my personal road, exhausted and in need of a new idea.

I was randomly surfing the net, when I found a blog where the author, a business school professor had “overshared”, she told us of her £60k credit card debt, her determination to pay it and how she was giving herself a mere £150 a month for entertainment.

How is that possible? £5 a day for entertainment? The price of a London sandwich, or a coffee.

I was itching to give this experiment a try. I was going to go out from noon till night on that fiver. And I was quite amazed just how far £5 a day took you in London…I got off the sofa, I used Google to find things to do, I met people, I had fun.

To find out more about my £5 a day experiment and how it changed my life read my blog post London on the Cheap.

Blogging Success isn’t all about Stats

My Londonology blog surprised me in ways that I didn’t expect. I wasn’t inundated with page views but…

Old friends and friends of friends got in touch, I started the Cambridge University blogging course and this week I have been successful in gaining a coveted place on the ENO Response opera critics training scheme funded by the ENO and mentored by Critics Circle.

None of this would have been possible if I hadn’t started the blog and benefitted from Daisy’s helpful writing advice.

So one thing really does lead to another.

I’m forever grateful to that oversharing blogger who put me on this path. I’m sorry that I can’t remember your name or blog.

My Blogging Ambition is to Help You

My greatest pleasure would be if I could inspire someone, maybe you, to get off your sofa and get out there. To find who you really are, not what society expects of a man or woman of your age but the true you.

Oprah has this great phrase “live your best life” as in start where you are now and not at some mythical, perfect time in the future. And I have a dear friend, a former homeless, alcoholic who is now an author and Harvard student and is always exhorting people to “Think big!”.

Perhaps my blog will become your encouragement to surround yourself with the friends, places, entertainment and drinks that make you happy! Hello World!

Maxine

March 7, 2023September 17, 2023

REVIEW: Satyagraha at the London Coliseum by Maxine Morse, 14 October 2022

The ENO has produced a sparkling revival of Philip Glass’s opera Satyagraha to commence their 2021 Winter season at the London Coliseum. It follows Ghandi’s early career in South Africa and is part cirque du soleil, part mystical experience, part manifesto for radicals.

A young Gandhi, a suited, suitcased lawyer, ejected from a first-class South African rail carriage sits in a heap besides the road. He depicts the struggles of the immigrant, subjected to small acts of everyday prejudice, shoved, pelted with debris and always being treated as “less than”.

Immigrants are the shoe shining underclasses who pander to the boorish Afrikaners; tattered, dusty, rusty and invisibly blending into the corrugated iron back drop of the set.

Gandhi turns to the holy scripture the Bhagavad-Gita, not to bear his lot, but to plan his movement. When you wage a war with weapons you don’t battle a faceless enemy, you kill your family, friends and neighbours who hold differing viewpoints. The author, Leo Tolstoy provides Gandhi with a formula for winning a revolution in “Letter to a Hindu”, you fight back with love.

Satyagraha means “insistence on truth”. It encompasses methods of passive resistance; the 240 mile Dandi Salt March in 1930 to protest the British imposed salt tax is enacted by peasants, farmers and urban labourers who swish the water with baskets to harvest salt. Gandhi galvanises his supporters with his newsletter, The Indian Opinion which rains on the stage like confetti. The crowds, with trepidation, burn their discriminatory Asian registration certificates in a fire pit.

The libretto (Phelim McDermott and Constance De Jong) is sung in Sanskrit without surtitles, rendering the performance more mime than opera with the Bhagavad-Gita acting as a philosophical and vocal backdrop. Gandhi’s (Sean Panikkar) vocals soar and dip in both hope and spiritual lament.

I had so many questions…some of them more pragmatic than artistic.

How do you train an English performing chorus to sing in Sanskrit?
How does Carolyn Kuan, in her debut performance, manage to conduct the obscurest of vocals?

And the questions kept on coming…

I implore you read a plot synopsis. Otherwise, you will spend the first interval queuing for a programme and playing speed-reading-catch-up instead of drinking a gin and tonic in the bar.

Maybe you struggle with non-linear plots and meditative eastern chanting is “all Greek to you”. Maybe you are a person like me! So why venture out on a cold, dark, autumnal night?

Go…this opera is a rare act of beauty, a spiritual tour de force with Glass’s signature minimalist music counterbalanced by a visually spectacular set filled to the rafters with aerialists, grotesque puppets and props crafted out of waste and humble materials.

Go…to be moved by the sheer pathos of a thin, wiry, magnetic man who faced injustice head on to start a movement which changed the world.

Satyagraha ENO – to book tickets go to the ENO website.

Maxine Morse wrote this review of Satyagraha as part of her opera critics training at the English National Opera. To see other reviews from her training see The Valkyrie, HMS Pinafore, The Handmaid’s Tale, Cosi Fan Tutte, The Cunning Little Vixen and La Boheme.

March 7, 2023September 17, 2023

HMS Pinafore at the ENO Review by Maxine Morse

HMS Pinafore is unashamedly the epitome of flag waving, English Englishness. I immediately sensed fish and chips, fairgrounds, childhood cut-out paper dolls and folk watching their Ps and Qs.

HMS Pinafore Review at ENO (c) Marc Brenner

This 1878 comedy opera, aimed at satirising Victorian inept politicians and ridiculous social mores, has the audience rolling in their seats as the near-knuckle jokes reveals much about their own personal prejudices and proclivities.

HMS Pinafore Cast

So who is taking us on the HMS Pinafore voyage of discovery?

The faffing Captain Corcoran is well liked, despite having all the charisma of a soggy packet of crisps. John Savournin delightfully conveys this blustering ineptitude through his deep, well-modulated tones.

Welcome “his betters” – deluded, class-obsessed Sir Joseph Porter and the exceedingly well-heeled entourage of “his sisters and his cousins and his aunts”. Les Dennis, is a casting masterstroke…his arthritic hips don’t stop him clambering about the deck, chasing the captain’s daughter and sabotaging the carefully choreographed dance routines. He does a blissful job of “When I Was a Lad”. You can envisage him sweeping and polishing as an office junior and marvel at the cronyism that caused him to rise to First Lord of the Admiralty.

Hilary Summers, as Little Buttercup, cuts a matronly, common-sense figure with her fine voice and no-nonsense attitude. You do wonder how one so refined could have been involved in the deplorable profession of baby farming.

HMS Pinafore’s two lovers, Alexandra Oomens (Josephine, the Captain’s Daughter) and Elgan Llyr Thomas (Ralph Rackstraw) are beautifully melodic and hit the highest, highs of dramatic intensity and passion. And then there is a suitably, irritating tap-dancing cabin boy (Rufus Bateman) who masterfully gets into character and produces the desired effect, as I had a burning urge to get on stage to chastise him.

HMS Pinafore Directed for Laughs

Cal McCrystal directs this opera for laughs…a hunched, elderly, confused, stick bearing woman, dwarfed in acres of lime green netting stole the show by falling down a trap door. Boris Johnson, makes a hilarious entrance on a zip wire waving a Union Jack. And the blast of a firing canon wakes the odd audience member who had too much wine at the interval.

Masterly and Upbeat Conducting

Chris Hopkins conducts the orchestra with the energy that you would expect on the last night of the proms…upbeat, punchy, knee bobbing and seamlessly blending with the vocals.

Colourful Period Costumes Worthy of Hollywood

Period costumes by takis, colourful, voluminous and crinolined, turn a bleak sea of blue and white into scenes worthy of “The Greatest Showman”.

The set design has a whiff of extravagance…a huge vessel, rotating to reveal the top deck, the captain’s quarters and the ship exterior.

HMS Pinafore a Glorious and Sumptuous Spectacle

Finally, we must offer posthumous thanks to our fine Victorian composer and librettist, Gilbert and Sullivan who through plot twists and turns, avoid controversy by ensuring that each of our eminent Englishmen marries within his social class.

HMS Pinafore is a glorious and sumptuous spectacle that conveys a simple, almost Shakespearian message, that “all’s well that ends well”. Maybe HMS Pinafore is our rightful reward for surviving Brexit and the dark depths of the pandemic.

You may be interested in our other opera reviews.

Maxine Morse wrote this review of HMS Pinafore as part of her opera critics training at the English National Opera. To see other reviews from her training see The Valkyrie, Così Fan Tutte, The Handmaid’s Tale, Satyagraha, The Cunning Little Vixen and La Boheme.

March 6, 2023September 17, 2023

The Valkyrie ENO at the London Coliseum

ENO’s The Valkyrie at the London Coliseum is a performance of stark contrasts. From the orchestra pit we have Ben Hur, Braveheart, The Return of the Jedi and on stage we are submerged in some boggy youth hostel where the ramblers are refreshing themselves with bottled water and tinned meat.

The Valkyrie ENO 2021 (c) Tristam Kenton

Sieglinde, no good can come from summoning a man, a self-professed loser who resembles your brother, out of your domestic fireplace…

Sieglinde’s (Emma Bell) voice carries the first act, with rich qualities of love, desperation and urgency. Siegmund (Nicky Spence), a malty tenor with befitting melancholy tones, puts on a brave performance battling a heavy cold. Hunding (Brindley Sheratt) is a man’s man, burly, powerful, intriguing with vocal prowess. It’s a shame he is a bit of a neanderthal wife beater. Why are you in this hippy commune when you could be auditioning for Apocalypse Now?

In Act Two, we meet our flawed gods. The one-eyed Wotan (Matthew Rose) puts on a bravura show but is let down by his red anorak and dodgy glasses. He aimlessly paces about, lacking the menace and grandiose gestures that are required of the leader of the gods. Please give this man a full-length gold cape, or at least a padded metallic coat!

Fricka (Susan Bickley) also unwell, walks her role with conviction, while Claire Barnett-Jones capably sings the part from a side box, her voice bold and colourful as she pleads with Wotan to spare Siegmund who he has condemned to die for incest. The pyjama-ed daughter of Wotan, Brunnhilde (Rachel Nicholls) is lyrical but her vocals are occasionally thin for the size of the auditorium.

The set has some nice touches, the cabin with a large girthed trunk housing the sword “Nothung”, the skeletal trees, the blanket of black ash and the suspended bodies… but it falls short. We need more bodies! More blood! More guts! We want our gods to be gods with authority and majesty! We want to be frightened! The pantomime horses and green waterproofed Valkyries just don’t cut it despite their obvious singing prowess.

Richard Jones’ (Director) modern, minimalist staging is at odds with the demands of the music. Martyn Brabbins proficiently conducts a mammoth orchestra with instruments and musicians flowing from every orifice – the pit, the boxes. The Ride of the Valkyries is a joy to witness; emotional, warlike, musical pyrotechnics at their best.

Westminster Council unhelpfully played the health and safety card and put the kibosh on the fire in the powerful final scene. We are left with the sleeping Brunnhilde, suspended from the ceiling, stripped of her god-like powers, without the ring of fire to defend her from being claimed by the first cowardly, namby-pamby man to come across her. Amp up the lights, project flickering flames, “Alexa, play crackling fire sounds”.

The Valkyrie is a performance of parts, massive colour and drama from the pit, some excellent vocal performances counterbalanced by damp and dreary staging. I am reminded of that urban idiom, “Go big, or go home”.

Check out our other opera reviews.

Tickets for The Valkyrie can be purchased from the ENO website.

Maxine Morse wrote this review of The Valkyrie as part of her opera critics training at the English National Opera. To see other reviews from her training see Satyagraha, HMS Pinafore, The Handmaid’s Tale, Cosi Fan Tutte, The Cunning Little Vixen and La Boheme.

March 6, 2023September 17, 2023

The Cunning Little Vixen ENO REVIEW

The Cunning Little Vixen ENO 2022: John Findon as Cock, ENO Chorus © Clive Barda

The Cunning Little Vixen (ENO) tells the tale of a sweet-natured, pointy-eared vixen entrapped by a forester for use as a children’s pet and who is later tied up in the back yard. On escaping, she reverts to her true nature by killing the cock, ravishing the hens and escaping back to the woodland to start a family. She is then killed by an oafish poacher from a neighbouring village.

On the surface, The Cunning Little Vixen (1924) by Leoš Janácek is a charming tale accompanied by the distinctive rhythm of Moravian folk songs but hidden within the plot are deeper allegorical significances.

We are confronted with the beauty of unbridled nature pitted against the moribund and decaying human world – a “four legs good, two legs bad” Orwellian allegory. Contrast the exuberance and free spiritedness of the woodland animals and the dull, dreary lives of the forester, priest and school master.

Sally Matthews sings the key soprano role of Sharp Eyes the Vixen. She successfully conveys the character’s sweet nature – coy, demure but her modest downward gazes mean that her voice is sometimes directed into the orchestra pit. Pumeza Matshikiza provides the perfect counterfoil as her paramour, the Fox. Pumeza’s voice is clear and colourful…any right-minded vixen would find her hard to resist.

Lester Lynch as the Forester, prowls and growls his way around the stage striking terror in his wake. He has a commanding vocal presence which fills the London Coliseum auditorium.

The best comic moments in the Cunning Little Vixen (ENO) stem from the opera’s anthropomorphism. Sharp Eyes describes her background and education as if on a first date and has the audience guffawing at mention of the mating activities of other creatures and when the forester sets a trap, Bright Eyes exclaims “Does he think we are fools?”.

Tom Scutt adopts a television studio set with props and storyline painted onto huge scrolls of paper to give vertical interest. The blackened stage provides a foil for the colourful animal, insect and fauna costumes. There are iridescent insects, metallic red-spotted toadstools and bridal chickens with perfect yellow patent shoes. Some costumes were less successful, a giant ball of fluff turned out to be a family dog and scurrying black-hatted creatures reminiscent of Victorian bobbies could be beetles.

Martyn Brabbins made light work of the conducting which was challenging as the music called for frequent loud and staccato percussion pieces that needed to be perfectly timed not to drown out the vocals. With this in mind it may have befitted the priest (Clive Bayley) and the School Master (Alan Oke) to project their voices more in Act Two to counterbalance the musical score.

And it’s a wrap…the poacher kills the vixen, the forester exits out of the studio back door…we run out of projector tape – it’s the end.

Jamie Manton, pulls the rabbit out of the hat, his direction of The Cunning Little Vixen (ENO) makes for an exuberant production that relays a charming comic tale and gives something to chew over for those looking for deeper allegorical significance.

Maxine Morse wrote this review of the Cunning Little Vixen as part of her opera critics training at the English National Opera. To see other reviews from her mentoring see The Valkyrie, HMS Pinafore, The Handmaid’s Tale, Cosi Fan Tutte, Satyagraha and La Boheme.

February 22, 2023September 17, 2023

REVIEW: The Handmaid’s Tale at the London Coliseum by Maxine Morse, 8 April 22

You would need to be quite disturbed to categorise Poul Ruders’ opera of The Handmaid’s Tale as entertainment but this performance nonetheless keeps the viewer transfixed throughout.

Based on the novel by Margaret Atwood, the opera depicts a future police state where women who have been living in sin, or who are in second marriages, are forced to act as surrogates for the childless leaders of the State of Gilead. Women are defined by their fertility and child bearing capabilities. Their emotions and actions are governed by a rule-bound theocracy.

The opera opens with Professor Pieixoto (Camille Cottin) explaining how the USA has been taken over by right-wing fundamentalists who have rolled back the progress and freedoms of women in early 21st century America. The discovery of a handmaid’s diary allows Offred’s (Kate Lindsey) story to be told. Camille Cotton seems lost – a slight, white-suited figure stranded on a podium…really, we want less chat so our dystopian nightmare can begin.

There is no sisterhood, no female fraternity, in Gilead. Aunt Lydia (Emma Bell) leads an indoctrination centre where the handmaids are stripped of everything that makes them human. We witness mental breakdowns, flashbacks and thoughts of escaping until the women enter a docile state and graduate.

The role of the handmaid is to act as a surrogate. Offred’s vocals convey the alarm, sadness and distress of her plight. She is held down by the wife (Avery Amereau) while her husband, The Commander (Robert Hayward) attempts to impregnate her. All erotic touching is strictly forbidden. Any transgressions are punished by the women being sent to work in a brothel, or to hard labour in the Colonies.

Annemarie Woods has designed a barren set encased by NHS hospital grade, green-grey curtains onto which grainy, celluloid films are shown of Offred’s previously happy life with her husband and child. The props of clinical apparatus and educational flip-charts evoke the birth control clinics of the 1960s. The red costumes of the handmaids represent nuns’ habits. Their uniformity makes it hard to distinguish between the opera cast. These are in direct contrast to the blue 1950’s frock of Serena Joy which is straight out of a 1950’s fashion magazine.

The music is scratchy and screechy with discordant percussion pieces punctuated by a few bars of Bach and Amazing Grace. The orchestra, conducted by Joana Carneiro, intentionally creates a background track to the action, rather than obviously supporting the voices. Ruders writes intentionally for the edge of what the performers’ voices can manage…their voices strain at the high notes which serves to underline that the inhabitants of the state of Gilead under continual strain.

Atwood is famed for having said that her novel contains nothing that hasn’t already happened in the world, or isn’t currently happening. Expect to be assaulted by historical and political allusions…the storming of the White House by Trump supporters, the rollback of women’s rights in Afghanistan, the separation of families by gun-toting soldiers which evoke the distressing, present day reality of the Ukrainian conflict.

Annilese Miskimmon (ENO Artistic Director) makes her debut as an opera director for the ENO with this performance. She should be commended for taking on such a challenging and feminist piece of work, although for some of us it left a bitter taste.

Performing The Handmaid’s Tale echoes the reasons why Holocaust education is considered important; to never forget, so we never repeat the mistakes of history. Human love, emotion and the things that make us human need to resist regulation by politics, education and organised religion.

Maxine Morse wrote this review of The Handmaid’s Tale as part of her opera critics training at the English National Opera. To see other reviews from her training see The Valkyrie, HMS Pinafore, Satyagraha, Cosi Fan Tutte, The Cunning Little Vixen and La Boheme.