The Marriage Of Figaro, Theatre Royal, Brighton, May 14
2:12pm Thursday 15th May 2008
Breast fondling, drug smoking and dirty talk - it was all in Armonico Consort's brilliantly daring production of The Marriage Of Figaro.
Set in the fabulous Fifties and sung in English, Kit Hesketh-Harvey's new translation was playful, provocative, and deliciously close to the bone.
It was packed with cheekiness - most memorably when saucy Barbarina begged the flirtatious Count not to send Cherubino away for being "wussy" and in return told him he could have her p***y!
Kit took every comic opportunity and ran with it. But while the humour came thick and fast, it never cheapened the intensity of the emotion.
The drama unfolded in leaps and bounds and this galloping pace kept a rousing energy throughout.
Ollie White was a real scene stealer as gossip-mongering cad, Don Basilio. Following scandal with the nose of a bloodhound, his gleeful celebration of human misfortune added an amusing dynamic.
His pot-smoking habit was an adventurous twist but was taken a little too far in the final scene when he started handing out joints and getting everyone stoned.
White was also very funny as the stuttering lawyer Don Curzio, but his physical comedy was matched by Martin Higgins who played gardener Bartolo like an operatic Jethro and by Lina Markeby, who made Cherubino a lovable clown.
With his Ronaldo good looks and greased-back hair, Thomas Eaglen presented the Count as a testosterone-fuelled slimeball, while Kate Bird gave his long-suffering wife a refreshingly feisty edge.
With a natural funniness reminiscent of Liza Tarbuck and a superb voice, Emma Jayakumar was a great Susanna who played opposite Ashley Bremner's hugely likeable and well-rounded Figaro.
The set was simple but slightly shabby. Most of the action took place within the Almaviva stately home, but rather than having a marble effect, the stained and flimsy walls looked more in need of a damp-proofing course.
However, in the hands of these award-winning festival favourites, Mozart's masterpiece was a riotous romp packed full of life and laughs.