Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff
Sat 28 Jan
Welsh National Opera are known for their creative, visual productions and this is no exception. Working with a whole range of creatives beyond the musical, the production uses some unconventional but creative set pieces and a huge amount of video projection to evoke backdrops and scenes, bringing the world to life.
Set against a video backdrop of the Paris skyline, the drama is played very well by a strong leading cast. The second act is the highlight, its energy taking the audience along with it. This is the scene with the most action, and the full chorus on stage in a bohemian bar scene. Lauren Fagan and Gary Griffiths shine here as Musetta and Marcello, their passions interweaving with the rest of the action but never missable.
Although without the same energy, the opening scene can be viewed as the acting highlight of this production. It’s a simple set-up, four struggling artists collected in their apartment wondering how to pay their bills and heat the place, but the performers (Griffiths, along with Dominick Chenes, Jihoon Kim and Gareth Brynmor John) really find the comedic elements in the text and play it exceptionally well. Opera is usually surreal, but at the root of it lies human experience, which is very clearly felt here.
The central role of Mimi is a challenging one when seen through a 21st century lens. Mimi is effectively in a coercive-controlled relationship with a poet who lied to her to extend their first meeting, and who pays her very little respect even as she is dying. Women’s lack of agency in opera is not uncommon, but it does not follow that it shouldn’t be observed. Marina Costa-Jackson, in the role of Mimi, brought some fine singing, and played very effectively a character conflicted between the potential of love and its harsh realities.
There were times when I thought the balance might be reconsidered, as the orchestra threatened to overpower the soloists every so often, but all in all this is a fine production of an enduringly popular work.
words JEN THORNTON