'Play', listen to me.
This was an astonishing showcase of raw talent, a bold, visceral reminder of the power of the stage to illuminate and define the human condition.
The plot synopsis defies, well, synopsising. It was Brecht's 'Three Penny Opera' re-imagined, a 'Three Yen Opera' if you like, with music by Sondheim and produced by a gimlet eyed Balzac, both enthused and dismayed by present day Japan.
There were scathing critiques of the slow sclerotic collapse of Japanese politics and the 'parsley' politicians who thrive in it. There were withering references to the 'lettuce' like leaders of the country, and the 'carrot' kings of industry who, eh, are orange and stop you from getting scurvy.
I will admit that my Japanese language ability was not quite up to the finer points of the play, particularly the extended 'call and response' enacted in deft tercets between the three 'Carrot Ministers', as the following clip so wonderfully illustrates:
And the moves; that grace, that effortlessly matching of music with motion, lyric with gesture to bring such a physical heft to the lyrical attack. It was like watching operatic rugby.
And as for Cian, well, I don't think comparisons with an early Nuruyev are too out of place - that same carefree albeit predatory aquiline expressionism and unlimited talent. Surely, he will follow in Rudolf's pointe footsteps and bestride the ballet world like a long-legged giant, before embarking on a series of homosexual affairs, getting strung out on heroin and ultimately dying of AIDS at 55.
Then again, maybe not.
But we are thinking Juilliard from this autumn.
No comments:
Post a Comment