Reviews of A New Kind Of Wilderness, The Marching Band, Good One and Magic Farm by MARIA DUARTE, ANDY HEDGECOCK and MICHAL BONCZA
Latest editorial
Operatic misfire
DAVID NICHOLSON finds the misogyny of Mozart’s storyline mishandled by tawdry stereotypes
CHEAP 'N CHEERFUL: Rebecca Evans as Despinain WNO's production of Cosi Fan Tutte
SCOTT ALSWORTH foresees the coming of the smaller, leaner, and class conscious indie studio, with art as its guiding star
MARJORIE MAYO recommends an accessible and unsettling novel that uses a true incident of death in the Channel to raise questions of wider moral responsibility
MIK SABIERS wallows in a night of political punk and funk that fires both barrels at Trump
Reasonable radicalism, death in Abu Dhabi, locked-room romance, and sleuthing in the Blitz
SIMON DUFF recommends a new album from renowned composer and oud player Anour Brahem.
JAMES WALSH has a great night in the company of basketball players, quantum physicists and the exquisite timing of Rosie Jones
Cosi Fan Tutte
Wales Millennium Centre
A NEW production of Mozart’s Cosi fan tutti should be a cause for celebration, but Welsh National Opera’s latest adaptation creates even more problems from troublesome subject matter. Of course the music and singing is sublime, but this is opera and we expect the acting and staging to enhance and engage us.
The trouble is that the 18th-century storyline is a glaring example of misogyny writ large for today’s audience. That problem has been compounded by a staging which sets the action in a school, with the two couples played as schoolchildren in shorts and gymslips.
More from this author
DAVID NICHOLSON applauds the return of Azuka Oforka’s stunning drama about slave plantation politics
Similar stories
DAVID NICHOLSON welcomes an overdue revival of WNO’s classic production, complete with protests against cuts
DAVID NICHOLSON sees in the new year in grand orchestral style, courtesy of the fine musicians of the WNO
DAVID NICHOLSON signs a petition to view a thrilling operatic performance saved by the concerted industrial action of its orchestra and chorus
DAVID NICHOLSON is enthralled by new work from WNO that teaches children to sing and perform