Full-bodied opera (From Swindon Advertiser)

Full-bodied opera

3:21pm Tuesday 26th July 2011 in Reviews

The Beggar’s Opera is known to be the first ever musical – it was written by John Gay in 1728.

For a 300-year-old opera, this adaptation and updated script by Matt Fox, with new musical arrangements provided by Jessie Thompson, had a very contemporary appeal.

The performers were rewarded with a nearly 100 per cent full auditorium at the Town Hall – a perfect setting for us to get involved with the unfolding story. This was my first opera and I was pleasantly surprised. It was fresh, young, zesty and suggestively sexy, with feisty satire throughout.

The cast were almost all women and they dominated the show. However, David Phillips who played philanderer Captain Macheath, leader of a gang of highwaymen, made me laugh the most.

This was an opera that, if it were a bottle of wine, would be nothing but the best – a fruity, light-hearted red but with a serious undertone of quality.

Certainly, this was an intoxicating night of entertainment that was cheeky and deliciously quaffable. – LISA COLEMAN