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Opera, eh. The first thing to spring to mind is cosplay for grown ups. People dressing up in elaborate costumes, just to be a part of the audience for a show.
There was a time when telling someone you were off to the opera would require a bizarre inverse snobbery justification.
Lining up outside the Bord Gais Energy theatre for Irish National Opera's production of Madama Butterfly earlier this year would dispel that image. Sure, there's still a lot of people who want to make an occasion of it, separate it from the commonplace by dressing up for the show, but there are more jeans than Dickie Bows in the audience.
There were plenty of audience members who didn't have monocles or opera glasses, who were neither bound in evening dresses nor top hat and tails lining up at the entrance to Mullingar Arts Centre for the Irish National Opera's visit with The Bartered Bride.
They were queuing for a version of Bedřich Smetana's comedic opera set in a Czech village, but in this one the characters had a distinctly rural Irish feel. In a vaguely similar way that Dublin Theatre Festival's production of Chekhov's Three Sisters pitched it for an Irish audience the Irish National Opera have infused this work with just a hint of green.
The Bartered Bride sees two young lovers, Mařenka (Amy Ní Fhearraigh) and Jeník (Egor Zhuravskii), endeavour to enact a plan that will help them usurp an unwanted marriage contract and find their own true happiness.
The vocal power of Ní Fhearraigh and Zhuravskii is awesome. To experience performers of this calibre in such an intimate surroundings is a real privilege.
The show leans heavily into its rural setting, and there is a very midlands feel to some of the delivery, particularly when the meddling matchmaker Kecal (John Molloy) informs his client's that a farm is worth torty tousand.
Molloy is magnificent in the role. He extracts every gram of humour from the part; in his flourishes, or his sheer daftness his delivery is impeccable. Yet his booming bass is the most impressive part of the performance. You can literally feel his voice press against you as he sings.
Carolyn Holt (Ludmilla) and David Howes (Krušina) portray the parents of Mařenka. It's the classic comic and straight character routine, and they work it perfectly together. Howes facial gymnastics as he reacts to the escalating absurdity is nothing short of genius.
Mentioning Rebecca Afonwy-Jones (Háta), Julian Close (Míka), William Pearson (Vašek) and Megan O’Neill (Esmeralda) may seem like box ticking, but each of the players add layers to the piece, both dramatically and musically. The philosophy of “acting is what you do when you don't have any line” is deeply ingrained in this troop. Everyone up there is giving it their all.
The libretto is in English, so the story is easy to follow, they even ran handy sur titles. The piano, cello, French horn, clarinet and violin that provide the music are all onstage, and this compacts the floor space on the Arts Centre stage. Even so the actors slip in and out between each other with all the elegance of neat dovetail joints.
The music is the essence of this opera. The five musicians deliver the score with an excellence that matches the actors.
As someone whose experience of opera tends to be tucked away in the cheap seats this was an overwhelming treat. Proximity emphasises the sheer physical force of the vocals. These are singers who, unamplified, fill massive amphitheatres, so to sit within touching distance of them is an extraordinary pleasure.
The final compliment goes to the set design. Right from the off the viewers are hauled into the community by a pulley, and once there become a part of the show. Whether they are dressed for it or not.
The Irish National Opera's performance of The Bartered Bride at the Mullingar Arts Centre was an exquisite experience.