Reviewed Sunday 23rd February 2014
Italian-American composer, Gian Carlo Menotti, was commissioned to write an opera for radio and, on 22nd April 1939
The Old Maid and the Thief had its first performance on the American NBC network. It was an instant success and he soon made some small adaptations for stage performances and it proved just as well-received in that new incarnation. The opera buffa is sometimes subtitled A Grotesque Opera in 14 Scenes, and has the hallmarks of stock characters from Commedia dell'Arte.
Popular Adelaide singer, Nicholas Cannon, regularly appears with Co-Opera, a touring company, and they have been associated with his new company, Mopoke Theatre Productions, in producing this one act opera, which he has directed. The Musical Director, Penelope Cashman, accompanies the singers from the piano, and she makes Menotti's complex score sound simple with her masterly playing of the piano reduction of the chamber score.
Cannon's direction brings a great deal of pace to the production and, by the use of his very clever set design of a section of wall, a door, a bed and a settee, which are all on castors, he adds interest to the numerous scene changes when the four cast members rotate a piece each to their positions for the next scene.
An old maid, Miss Todd, and her young housemaid, Laetitia, take in a wanderer named Bob. In a town where little happens, and men are in short supply, both women fall for him and think that they can win his affections. Bob, however, makes it clear that he want nothing at all to do with women, because they will ruin his life. The town busybody and gossip, Miss Pinkerton, informs them that a thief and murderer has escaped from the local jail, and the description fits Bob.
Guila Tiver plays Miss Todd, and conveys the excitement, coupled with self-delusion and a fair degree of desperation at the arrival of Bob, and the possibility of finally capturing a husband. She gives a fine display of the transition from the respectable old maid, worried about her reputation in the community, through her descent into the darker side of life.
Sharon Turley is the wily and flirtatious Laetitia, a role that she clearly enjoys and throws herself into. We see the plight of the women of the town in her wonderfully executed lament,
What a Curse for a Woman, is a Timid Man.
Jeremy Tatchell is Bob, his rich, powerful baritine voice ideally suited to the role of the disinterested love interest, more concerned about the comfortable bed, good food and drink, and the money that Miss Todd leaves out, presumably to entice him to stay longer. His rendition of
When The Air Sings of Summer, as he hear's again the call of the road and the desire for his freedom, is beautifully delivered and convincingly portrays his desire to be on his way again.
Sara Lambert, relishes the fun offered by the comical role of Miss Pinkerton, listening in on conversations, peeping around corners and spreading gossip. She makes her visits and snippets of gossip count, causing changes in the dynamics of the relationships at every appearance.
The success of this opera is very much reliant on good, tight ensemble work coupled with strong individual characterisations, and that is exactly what this production has. The hour or so simply flies past and it is over all too soon, although the acute direction and plenty of visual interest have a lot to do with that.
Sung in English, this short, lively one act work is an ideal introduction to opera, with its tuneful melodies and comic subject matter, albeit with some poignant moments. Human foibles, scheming women, and the error of jumping to conclusions provide plenty of laughs, and Bob finally, reluctantly succumbs, but more to blackmail than to love, announcing that "The devil couldn't do what a woman can; make a thief out of an honest man." There are only a couple of performances to go, so book quickly.
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