THEATRE REVIEW:
KPBS
AIRDATE: February 20, 2004
Lovers united and divided. Lashed
together to die, separated by murder. Juicy stories of operatic proportion. One
fanciful, the other, supernatural, and both highly anticipated: the Opera's
"Pearl Fishers" and Sledgehammer's "Macbeth."
The Scottish Play, as
superstitious theater folk call it, is a perfect fit for Sledgehammer Theatre:
dark, emotionally intense, bloody, brutal and spookily supernatural. Artistic
director Kirsten Brandt is in her element. Her tweaked text highlights certain
speeches, making them reverberate as omens or sing as spoken, shadowed duets.
The costumes are a contemporary hodgepodge, but there's a decidedly Asian feel
to the production -- in the weaponry, a straggly white beard and kimono, a
toast in sake cups. The witches who predict the rise and downfall of Macbeth --
assume kabuki hand positions, but they glide, hissing and twitching, like
short-circuited electronic marionettes. The ominous soundscape and eerie
lighting highlight the otherworldly elements. The malleable ensemble of nine
morphs into some 30 characters, gender reversed with delectable and
unpredictable results. As the power-mad Macbeths, David Tierney and Janet
Hayatshahi exude a palpable sexuality, which diminishes noticeably as their
anguish mounts over the slaughter of all those who stand in their way. In this
election year, the play serves as a cautionary tale; absolute power can be murderous.
But sometimes, maybe only in fantasies
and operas, people see the error of their ways. This is the unexpected outcome
of Georges Bizet's "The Pearl Fishers." Two friends love the same
woman. The rejected suitor, leader of the fishermen, jealously condemns the
couple to death. But then, when he realizes that he has wronged the two people
he loves most, he creates a fiery distraction that will save them at his
own expense.
Set improbably in Ceylon, "The
Pearl Fishers" is not opera's greatest story, but the plotline isn't the
main event here. It's the music that enchants, and the San Diego Opera
production is a feast for the eyes as well as the ears. The sun-drenched set
and costumes were created by the internationally acclaimed, sometimes-local fashion
designer Zandra Rhodes -- mirroring her own signature hot-pink hair with a
textile-like splash of unpredictable color combinations -- pink and orange set
off by a dash of turquoise. The angular, Asian-inspired dance interludes were
choreographed by John Malashock. The orchestra and chorus are outstanding. But
most dazzling of all is the soprano at the center of the action. Isabel
Bayrakdarian is beautiful, graceful, emotionally credible and vocally
magnificent, admirably balanced by tenor Michael Schade and baritone Russell
Braun. In this attractive though sometimes visually overactive production,
love, the score and the soprano conquer all.
©2004
Patté Productions Inc.