**** (4 stars)
“a sparkling show! “
Another amazing show, with massive respect and credit to Madame herself for creating an energising and energetic participatory show from a motley collection of parents and smallish children who were mainly extremely reluctant to get involved…
As some of my readers will know, I have a background in opera, and am firmly of the opinion that it can and should be enjoyed by anyone and everyone – it’s not snobby elitist stuff but full of emotions that everyone will recognise and identify with. Madame Chandelier obviously thinks the same, and has set out to produce a show which I hope will speak to both adults and children this August, and create new generations of opera fanatics!
I have to confess to being hampered in my appreciation of this show by a complete ignorance of gaming and gaming consoles – sad, I know, but there you are. Maybe in another lifetime I’ll be able to become completely addicted and spend my entire life staring at a screen as I work my way through the heaven-knows-how-many levels of a game to reach the ultimate reward? This means that the game jargon completely passed me by…
But.
I DO know my opera, and particularly my operatic heroines – and these we had in plenty!
Madame Chandelier is herself obsessed with opera – this is why she’s named her daughter Pamina, the heroine from Mozart’s Magic Flute. Problem is, Pamina’s spending way too much time playing Guitar Hero instead of practising her actual guitar…. And what she doesn’t realise is that the evil Queen of the Night is sucking children into her game, feeding off their blue light energy, and ultimately trapping them in the game for ever.
Help! What is Madame C to do????
Call upon operatic heroines, of course
Brunnhilde, one of Wagner’s Valkyries, comes flying in to assist Madame C, singing a list of instructions. Find the wizard; enter the game; collect a load of useful stuff; fight and defeat the Queen and sieze the means of getting safely home.
Simples, yes?
Well… it would help if the audience were willing to participate… Blessedly, although the children were stricken with shyness, their adults proved more willing to join in, and slowly at first but with increasing enthusiasm they assisted Madame C in her quest, with the help of more operatic heroines. They had to contend with constant interference from the Queen of the Night, who was determined to save the children from their parents and allow them as much screen time as they wanted – why not, when their grownups were spending all their time with their own screens…???
We had started with Mozart and had a wee bit of Wagner. Now we visited Bizet and then settled determinedly with Puccini – three fabulous heroines in Carmen, Tosca, and Madam Butterfly. Potted versions of their stories were woven into the action – but Madame C was determined that, with a bit of help from the audience, their fates could be changed – Carmen would not be stabbed by Don José, Tosca would not have to jump from the battlements of Castel’ Sant Angelo, and Butterfly would have a happy ending – and Madame C herself would collect everything she needed to complete her quest and rescue Pamina.
Did this happen? Well, gentle reader, I’m not going to tell you – you have to come and find out for yourself….
What I will say is that Madame Chandelier’s heroic efforts to galvanise her audience into action-packed participation were not in vain, and by the final curtain, everyone was on their feet, dancing in celebration and having a great party.
Wonderful invention, witty costumes, a staggering display of star-catching while playing the piano accordion, lots of jokes for both adults and kids, and a canter through a surprising amount of opera [and a brief can-can too] together make a really enjoyable way to introduce even the most sceptical to the delights of opera. If it also induces people of all ages to spend less time on a screen and more in a theatre, this can only be a good thing!
Thank you, Madame Chandelier, for a sparkling show!
Madame Chandelier’s Grand Theft Opera, Pleasance Courtyard (The Green) Venue 33, Runs until 16th August for more information and tickets go to: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/madame-chandelier-s-grand-theft-opera
ScotsGay Arts 