Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

God's Liar, Almeida at King's Cross, London

A cautionary tale of even Stephens

Lynn Walker
Tuesday 10 July 2001 00:00 BST
Comments

God's Liar or God's Lyre? John Casken's new opera, premiered – like his first, Golem – by the Almeida Theatre, combines the two. The liar is Tolstoy's invention, the lyre belongs to Hollywood's take on the central character of his novella, Father Sergius. The composer's starting point is the tale of Sergius or Stepan, a brilliant soldier and proud society man who turns monk on discovering that his bride-to-be has had an affair with no less than the Tsar himself.

In the constant testing of Sergius's apparent sanctity by a series of sexual temptations and increasing self-doubt, he eventually comes nearer to discovering the truth of life. Sergius's quest is mirrored by Casken and his co-librettist, Emma Warner, in a parallel tale set in the present, involving a writer, Stephen, who is researching Sergius's life through his diaries and is persuaded (by a predatory female agent) to sell the story as a movie.

The demarcation between the two centuries and the two stories in Keith Warner's production is defined, in John Lloyd Davies's uncluttered set, by a diagonal step along which the women entering Sergius's life each slowly proceed as if walking a tightrope. On the left is Sergius's world – mid-19th century St Petersburg society, his hermit's cell and the open road to which he finally takes; on the right, Stephen's – from his Cambridge study to Tinseltown; while a ghostly cast of white undergarments gently sways overhead. A blank piece of celluloid provides a backdrop screen to whichever of the two worlds is under the spotlight at any one time.

For the most part, the juxtaposition works effectively, especially where it matters most, in the music. Casken has created a powerful score, his own distinctive musical voice coloured by Russian and church-music influences refracted through the late 20th century. His introduction of snatches of pastiche and parody are not only genuinely amusing but also entirely appropriate to the satire of Tolstoy's original.

Withthe excellent Almeida Ensemble seated to the left of the stage, and with just three principals and a small cast of chorus-soloists, the sound world that Casken has so imaginatively created is brilliantly realised under the musical direction of Ronald Zollman. The orchestral score is almost an opera in itself.

Perhaps the plot attempts too much, for despite the powerfully compelling moments in the narrative, the manipulative hands of the librettists and director seem to lie heavily on the development of the characters and their relationships. There is, after all, nothing in the score to suggest that the youngest of Sergius's seductresses (her age reduced from Tolstoy's 22 to a scarcely more dangerous 16) has a sexual encounter with Stephen rather than Stepan, and here the two stories begin to unravel. With the gratuitous episode in which Sergius is beaten up and dowsed in petrol we, the audience, seemed, like Stepan/ Stephen, to be left searching for truth and finding only darkness.

Of the superb principals, including Omar Ebrahim as Sergius and Jeffrey Lentz as Stephen, Anne Bolstad deserves special mention for her valiant attempt to bring individuality to the many characters she inhabits, especially the stiletto-heeled, suspender-clad film star.

Tonight, 14 July (020-7359 4404)

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in