and a little help from Voltaire
Let's
get the major issue out of the way first. These were some of the most
uncomfortable seats I have ever sat in! They challenge the Kings
Head in Islington as the most uncomfortable London theatre seats, and
Kings Head is at least a fringe pub! If we go tot eh ENO again we will
have to pay higher prices in the hope of being able to sit comfortably!
The rest of the Coliseum has been done up since I was
last there, and looked superb. And you do forget how high the production
standards are in opera. We thing the 20+ casts at the National are
fantastic. This had the 20-odd actor-singers, the main soloists, a
dance troupe and an orchestra together with videos and a fantastic 50s TV
set set. The opening video played over the overture sets the scene.
The action of Voltaire's classic has been updated to 1950s America.
Candide's quest to show that 'Everything is for the best in the best of all
possible worlds' has to compete with McCarthyism, Hollywood, Texan Oil
tycoons and white house po
litics.
The setting doesn't always work, and sometimes the production itself seemed
to forget which decade it was aiming for - how did the Titanic get into the
50s? And while we are on the subject, isn't Titanic imagery just a little
bit tired by now? Including Tony Blair, George Bush, Berlusconi et al
wasn't very 50s either, but still....
But we should not get too carried away. Even as novel Candide attacks a new target each page and leaps surreally from location to location, so I don't think the setting is that important. Candide, having been taught by his teacher Pangloss the Liebnitz philosophy that God allows disasters because they are actually for the best. We do not know what other awful results could have resulted from a different set of circumstances and as God is a Good God, everything happens for the best in the best of all possible worlds! With this in mind he decides to marry his love Cunegonde, but he is turfed out of the (White) house of the suggestion. Enrolled in the army he sees desperate death and destruction and finds the body of Cunegonde, but also the syphilitic Pangloss. Ships sink, earthquakes destroy and Pangloss and Candide are hanged by the US state (or the Inquisition in the original). Nobody actually stays dead in this story, so Cunegonde is working for two mafia bosses but is found by the not-actually-dead Candide who promptly shoots her two protectors. Confusingly the end the first part by running away to America - when they are already in.
The second half continues at the same hectic pace. Everyone Candide meets betrays or double-crosses him, the work is corrupt, dishonest, unequal, lecherous and sleazy and even his love is two-timing him at every opportunity. In the end Candide recognises that everything is not for the best or indeed the worst and recommends everyone to go gardening.
As I say, the plot isn't that great! Alex Jennings, playing Pangloss and Voltaire shows what a fine actor he is. Effortless slipping between characters and finding a voice to hold its own with the professionals singers around his he is a genuine star. The naive Candide was ably played by Toby Spence and I was unaware of him putting a foot wrong. Anna Christy was Cuegonde who has one fabulous scene when she plays Marilyn Monroe, a real crowd pleaser and the other wonderful character is The Old Woman with only one buttock. A wonderful part played to the full by Beverly Klein - who actually played the same part at the National. Best of all, however, was Bernstein's music. Somehow at the end of all this nonsense it was hard not to shed a tear as Candide realises that Cunegonde is just as fickle as everyone else. Apparently this is a very 'controversial' production, but for me it was a great show, well acted and sung (and danced) with great music.
Just a shame about those seats.....