It would be sad to think that Tête à Tête, critically acclaimed for its intimate and innovatory opera productions, created on a variety of multicoloured shoestrings, had allowed success to turn its head. But in the company’s latest show, it has certainly made the mistake of taking itself just a little too seriously.
Circus Tricks began as a tiny work called The Agony of the Knife Thrower’s Assistant, one of a cycle of Live Bites in 2008. The company’s way is to work slowly, developing material over a long time — in this case ending up with a full-length, nearly two-hour opera. But what works as a pithy and witty miniature does not always have the potential for extension. Nor, in this case, do writer Adey Grummet and composer Michael Henry seem to have the skills necessary for such development.
The agony of the knife-thrower’s assistant was that she was in love with her colleague who, naturally, saw her as little more than a silhouette. Think a little further, and you can easily imagine an acrobat whose double-act with his brother is driving him to drink; a trapeze artist obsessed by the pursuit of a single moment of weightlessness; a contortionist who is isolated in her spotlight. Even poor old Barney the horse dreams of wind in his mane, and running in straight lines.
So far, so good. But that, I’m afraid, is just about it. The first act introduces us to each character through arias in which they simply rehearse their own stage directions and choreography (as tedious for us as it is, fatally, for them). And the second act brings about their own little disasters, as boredom compels them to “break the illusion”. The knife-thrower’s assistant moves six inches to the right; the contortionist gets trampled by the elephant; the trapeze artists falls — and so on.
The ridiculously predictable denouement had the audience guffawing. Their time had been wasted; and so had the time and talent of the six-piece band, Chroma, directed by Gerry Cornelius, and singers from Trinity Laban such as the velvety mezzo Lilly Papaioannou (Contortionist), the coloratura soprano Yvette Bonner (Trapeze artist) and baritone Simon Wilding (Jemmy the Acrobat). Bill Bankes-Jones, the company’s artistic director, directed.
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To March 25. Box office: 020-8237 1111