The Grimeborn Opera Festival reaches its final stages with a double performance of contemporary new classics. Guillermo Nazara shares his views on the show, to let us if these love pieces actually came too hard hearted.
Love is blind. Well, f*ck you too, you self-consciousness-triggering bitch. Oh, come on, are you gonna tell me now that you don’t spend a year trying to find the right outfit for your first date? Wanting to make an impression? Wanting, well, to be just perfect? You do? Great. I don’t need to (right back at you, ha!). But seriously (not sure why I’ve said that), we all wonder what that special one will be thinking of us by the time they see us. We jam ourselves with thoughts that, way too often, have no more productivity than creating more insecurities. Sometimes we bury those thoughts in the back of our minds. Some others, we share them with our friends. And some, the most special ones, become a reason to burst into song.
And now let’s move on to another topic and discuss the two-piece opera the Arcola Theatre is hosting until the end of this week. What? If I was normal, I wouldn’t be in the theatre. Anyway, the Green Opera company presents this musical exploration of modern relationships, by diving into the personal reflections of two women prior to and during their own romances. Starting with At The Statue of Venus, a comical monologue about a young girl questioning her appearance while waiting for her date, both pieces offer an introspective look into the weak side of love – the one that has to do with ourselves and our own expectations.
Parting from a sound and quite an appealing idea, the premise is yet to release its full potential, as the delivery in both works seems incomplete. Though featuring some clever comments, the lyrics lack more subtlety – often sounding too expositional and not offering much more than a blunt, unpolished expression of the characters’ feelings. In addition, though the music (especially in Venus) contains some rather charming passages, the overall vibe is that the score is too generic for the story we’re being presented with – not fully serving the narrative but just randomly using tunes that could either work for a completely different tale.
A similar problem is found in the plot’s own structure. Both Venus and Voix manage to correctly set the tone and background, but sadly fail at doing anything else with it, as there’s not a proper arc or evolution that neither the roles, or we as the audience, are taken through. There’s still some high points to mention, though – and the two of them come from the singers’ excellent renditions, performing with passion and sentiment altogether supported by a flawless technical ability.
With a clear vision of what their recount is, Venus and Voix however need to make that concept materialize, by letting it expand and mature until it’s ready to breath by itself. Dealing with the matters of the soul, it’s precisely that missing component that’s preventing it from having its own pulse. If we’re to talk about the heart, we need our speech to be heartfelt.
At The Statue of Venus and La Voix Humaine play at London’s Arcola Theatre until 9 September. Tickets are available on the following link.