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Completely Bonkers
H K Gruber's 'Gloria - A Pigtale',
reviewed by MIKE WHEELER
A pig sporting luxuriant golden curls, a hairy wild boar called Rodrigo, two all-singing, all-dancing hot-dogs (with mustard), a pair of doo-wopping oxen and a chorus of glove-puppet frogs — welcome to the world of H K Gruber's satirical opera Gloria — A Pigtale [seen 23 July 2014 at Buxton Opera House, Buxton Festival, Derbyshire, UK].
This production by Mahogany Opera Company — the result of a merger between Mahogany Opera and The Opera Company — is directed by the nothing-if-not-versatile Frederick Wake-Walker; he has also staged Mozart's La Finta Giardiniera for Glyndebourne this summer, and last year directed pre-merger Mahogany Opera in all three of Britten's Church Parables. He and designer Mamoru Iriguchi have thrown everything at Gruber's animal fable, but it's that kind of piece, and the result is a delirious mix of burlesque dancing, cabaret (the genre), Cabaret (the musical), and Avenue Q...
Copyright © 26 July 2014
Mike Wheeler,
Derby UK
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