Satyagraha: Opera review - 'An inspired marriage of sight and sound'
Coliseum, London
A revival of the Phelim McDermott/Julian Crouch production of Philip Glass’s operatic masterpiece means another chance to savour its inspired marriage of sight and sound.
Gandhi’s invented word ‘satyagraha’ meant ‘truth-force’, to which his followers had to surrender in their quest for a spiritual and fatalistic version of communism.
Given that the history is jumbled and the libretto is in Sanskrit, the singers have to make a similar sort of surrender, and since there are no English surtitles, so does the audience.
But no production ever made surrender so easy. Events unfold with dreamlike poise - the stage in a constant state of self-transformation – and one watches entranced as Improbable’s brilliant ‘skills ensemble’ create cows, crocodiles, jousting giants and Hindu gods with somnambulistic purpose and precision. Yet it’s all done with pea-sticks, papier-mache, Scotch tape, and painterly lighting.
No praise too high for the chorus, who summon up a Verdian grandeur, nor for the orchestra under Stuart Stratford’s direction, who find a perfect balance between ecstasy and urgency for Glass’s figurations.
Back in a title role he has made his own, Alan Oke deploys his gift for projecting heroic isolation at the head of an outstanding cast. Unforgettable.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies