This minimalist production of Don Giovanni, directed by Marcio da Silva and performed by the Ensemble OrQuesta, is part of the Grimeborn Opera festival.
Grimeborn is now in its eighteenth year of presenting radical and innovative opera at the Arcola Theatre, and endeavours to provide the audience with modern and thought-provoking interpretations of both classic and new operas.
As this opera reached 2 hours and 45 minutes (with a break), it certainly wasn’t pared back, but it was performed with a cast of only eight singers, and the set consisted of a couple of tables and a few chairs that were taken on and off stage. Most of the props and costumes were black which suited the dark and tragic story that this work portrays.
For anyone who doesn’t know, Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, based on the story of an errant Spanish ‘libertine’ as told by playwright Tirso de Molina in his 1630 play El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de Piedra. It features the exploits of notorious womaniser Don Giovanni, and shows his eventual downfall due to his ‘reckless behaviour and disregard for others.’
Composed in 1787, the opera still resonates with the modern age, but it tells a dark and intense story where humour or empathy for the title character is nearly impossible to find, as he is undeniably a rapist and a murderer. As society has progressed, in the age of the #MeToo movement and the Epstein files, Don Giovanni is a hard thing to admire, despite the stunning score and great arias. The other characters often refer to Don Giovanni as a ‘scoundrel’ in the opera, but I am sure that we would have stronger words to describe him today.
In the performance I saw, Don Giovanni was played powerfully by Marcio da Silva, who is also the Musical Director. He is introduced as he encounters Donna Anna (Rosemary Carlton-Willis) and attempts unsuccessfully to ‘seduce’ her. She struggles to fend him off and is subsequently protected by her father, Il Commendatore, played by Vedat Dalgiran. He, in turn, is murdered by Don Giovanni, who shows no remorse for his actions. It is a shame that we did not see Dalgiran again until the end of the opera, as both his bass voice and remarkable beard were arguably major highlights of the show.
Don Giovanni escapes with his servant Leporello, Flavio Lauria, while Donna Anna seeks revenge and, supported by her fiancé, Don Ottavio, aims to discover who murdered her father. I found John Twitchen, who played Don Attavio, to be rather inexpressive, and he did not convincingly convey the emotion of the scenes – I just wanted him to give it a bit more welly! As Don Giovanni continues to seduce more women, he enlists his misbegotten servant Leporello as his accomplice. Despite his protests, Leporello supports the nobleman, and it is clear that some of Don Giovanni’s antics have rubbed off on him. The master/servant relationship between da Silva and Lauria was performed compellingly, and they nailed the well-known duet in Act I, ‘la ci darem la mano’, performing alternate verses (sung simultaneously) until they blended together to convey emotional unity.
The sub-plot surrounding Masetto and Zerlina’s wedding showcased strong chemistry from Anna-Luise Wagner and Jay Rockwell. Wagner’s strong soprano carried a lot of weight in the intimate, industrial confines of the Arcola, and she remained centre stage for much of the performance. Helen May plays Donna Elvira, another scorned woman who has succumbed to the charms of Don Giovanni but nevertheless still wants him back (the women do not fare well in the opera). Her clarity of voice was wonderful and I would have liked to hear more from her than the work allows for.
It felt like the pace picked up in Act II, with a (tiny) bit of audience interaction, and huge praise to da Silva for his talent in eating cake and still singing during a dinner scene. As the opera concludes, Donna Anna recognises Don Giovanni as her father’s murderer, and the action takes a supernatural turn as (spoilers!) Giovanni finds himself condemned to burn in hell in the underworld. The use of the puppet statue of the Commendatore is well-staged.
If the production felt a bit slow to get off the ground, it’s fair to say that the ensemble came together and the show improved as it progressed. As the cast was limited in numbers, the use of mannequin torsos designed by Orlanda Bishop to signify Don Giovanni’s conquests, as well as additional guests in the ballroom scene, was clever and original. But despite some deft touches, the work didn’t justify nearly three hours, and a snappier adaptation would have been most welcome. The music performed by the Hastings Philharmonic Orchestra (HPO), conducted by Beth Fitzpatrick, was well-executed throughout. However, this is a show that, at one point, calls for three competing orchestras playing simultaneously, making it challenging for eight musicians to reach the required intensity. Somewhere along the way, this performance missed its mark, and despite the intense storyline, it felt somewhat lacklustre.
A stated aim of Grimeborn is to provoke the audience with fresh imaginings of classic opera, but the crowd was predominantly elderly and comprised many hardcore opera buffs. The show did not push the boundaries enough to attract and engage a younger audience, but maybe we should credit those who were there for being willing to try out new works away from the West End.
Often cited as one of the greatest operas ever written, this dark and intense version felt rather longer than anticipated and didn’t quite hit the high notes.
Review by Fiona Gilbert
Oshri Segev – Don Giovanni
Flavio Lauria – Leporello
Helen May – Donna Elvira
Rosemary Carlton-Willis – Donna Anna
Anne-Luise Wagner – Zerlina
John Twitchen – Don Ottavio
Jay Rockwlel – Masetto
Vadat Dalgiran – Il Commendatore
Orlando Bishop – Puppeteer
Marjorie Lemos – Actress
Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte
Stage and Music Director – Marcio da Silva
Assistant Conductor – Beth Fitzpatrick
GRIMEBORN OPERA: DON GIOVANNI
Arcola Theatre
26 to 30 August 2025
