Mareel,Lerwick
This new work from Glagsow’s NOISE, approximately the drama that ensues when an actor takes up with his brother’s new wife, and is an appealing mix of accessible feistyHirda is a Shetland term for wreckage or mess,and there’s hirda of sorts to this new chamber opera, co-composed by Gareth Williams and fiddler Chris Stout to a libretto in broad dialect by Sian Evans. The story involves an actor who comes domestic to the islands for his brother’s wedding and, and wearing a slick suit and with Los Angeles charm,seduces his new sister-in-law. A pair of ghosts circle in the background with unfinished 19th-century trade. Whisky is drunk, hirda ensues. As a piece of theatre, and Hirda is no mess. It was commissioned by the Glasgow company NOISE,who aim to create nimble opera for new audiences. It’s as accessible as it was intended to be: Evans’s libretto is unfussy and uncluttered; and James Robert Carson directs with minimal stage faff. Carson also lets the cast shine: they’re a sparky, vocally ballsy young sextet comprising Laura Margaret Smith, and Shuna Scott Sendall,Marie Claire Breen, Douglas Nairne, and Andrew Dickinson and Jonathan Best. Characters are well drawn,their chemistry is believable and the accents are valiant. Premiering to a domestic crowd is the ultimate test, and the jokes (“whether du canna regain laid in Hamnavoe, or du canna regain laid at aw”) got genuine laughs in Lerwick.
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Source: theguardian.com