Review: The Marriage of Figaro

A Crowd-pleasing Comedy Revival

So it has been about two months since the Timothee Chalamet “no one cares about ballet and opera” scandal – and what did we learn? Well, firstly, that that’s not exactly what he said, secondly, that people don’t know how Oscar voting works, and thirdly, that people will immediately jump to the defence of the performing arts…even if they rarely actually go. As lovely as it was to see Opera and Ballet companies rally together, how many of the critics had actually been to the ballet in the last year, or been to the opera at all? Regardless, opera and ballet companies around the world have seen an increase in sales, especially from newcomers. I can’t say with any confidence that there were newcomers at Wednesday’s performance of The Marriage of Figaro (the silk dresses and pearl necklaces everywhere I looked suggest otherwise), but if there had been, they would have been in very safe hands with Scottish Opera.

The first reason is that this is an outright comedy, with the mischief, misunderstanding, and philandering you might expect from a Shakespeare comedy. Several scenes even reminded me of sitcoms, the way that characters would exchange wits and fall for tricks. Each character’s traits and quirks are marvellously realised by the cast. Ava Dodd is the charmingly haughty Susanna, Simone McIntosh is the charismatic playboy Cherubino, and Alexandra Lowe is the headstrong Countess Almaviva. Women lead the charge on the performances, but Luvo Maranti gets some of the biggest laughs as tenacious gossip Don Basilio, for what few scenes he has.

Photo Credit: Mihaela Bodlovic

The second reason is that it is in English. For all the virtues of enjoying an opera in its original language, this translated adaptation does a wonderful job at drawing audiences in, making opera a little more familiar while giving us a chance to look at the stage more than the surtitles. The challenge that new audiences face with The Marriage of Figaro (and, indeed, all audiences) is the length. Loathed though I am to criticise a Mozart opera for having “too many notes”, I must warn you that this performance is three and a quarter hours long. At that length, the amount of repetition becomes noticeable, and the schemes upon schemes upon schemes cooked up by the characters have you silently pleading for a dénouement. And for audiences familiar with this opera, this production offers nothing new. Where other Scottish Opera productions have remained traditional, they have at least made their performances essential viewing by the lavishness of the production or the sheer grandeur of the central performances. This revival of Sir Thomas Allen’s production, originally staged in 2010, does not have that.

Even with those caveats, this is still an excellent night out for opera fans old and new. There is a twist in the third act which showed just how many people were enjoying The Marriage of Figaro for the first time, because all you could hear were gasps. It has a plot that could make someone who could never otherwise go to the opera say, “Huh, maybe I would like that!” For opera novices booking tickets out of misguided spite for a Hollywood star, they couldn’t go far wrong with Scottish Opera’s The Marriage of Figaro. Four stars.

Whispers from the crowd: "It was funny, slick, the cast were very strong. All the aspects were very coherent."

The Marriage of Figaro will perform at Theatre Royal in Glasgow until the 22nd of May, followed by dates in Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and Inverness