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Theatre listings > Tangier Tattoo. Tour & World Premiere. Premiered at Glyndebourne, Lewes, East Sussex, England on 22 Ocotber 2005. Composer - John Lunn. Libretto - Stephen Plaice Conductor - James Morgan. Director - Stephen Langridge. Designer - Alison Chitty. Lighting Designer - Paul Pyant. Movement - Philippe Giraudeau. Cast - Here. Company - Glyndebourne Opera Company (England). Venue - Edinburgh Festival Theatre. Tour dates - November - December 2005. Run Time - 2 hrs 15 Mins with an interval. Reviewer - Thelma Good. Enough to interest but not to endure. Opera, the word itself can be a turn off, some of the productions of the canon as well as some of the performances designed to attract new audiences can badly miss the mark. This new opera contains enough to interest the newcomer but it doesn't have the elements to make it endure. Set in Tangiers John Lunn's music certainly holds together, having themes and motifs running through it, some with distinctly north African flavour or Jazz undertones. The singers are miked, which may offend the purists, but does enable use of amplified instruments or in this case music. It's is an operatic thriller with a story that has you not knowing what will happen next but it lacks that essential for opera or musicals - songs you just can't get out of your head. What it does have, under Stephen Langridge's direction and is a well made production with excellent movement and acting from the opera singers, they shimmy and shake in the dance sequences or look languorous and attractive in seaside scenes. If you think opera singers are all like beached whales who can't act this production will more than surprise you. These are multitalented artists, not soon to be extinct singing hulks. Nick is a somewhat innocent Englishman who is sitting close by when some drug-dealers get busted. The woman Nadine who was sitting at his table picks up an abandoned bag with a large amount of money in it and Nick. The Tangier Tattoo of the title is a two part tattoo, one appearing on a female the other on a male, and Nadine tells Nick it has erotic significance. The next morning she has left their bed and a detective is asking about her. Nick is deeply under Nadine's influence, and so goes to a Tattooist, a American vet and ex-pat. In swiftly moving scenes facilitated by Alison Chitty's design, we watch him getting sucked into Nadine's world and into the world of the Tangier people who try make their living by fair means or not from the ghastly, brightly coloured people who visit their country. Chitty's design, suggestive of supporting beams of buildings, and looking like an enormous marble run, contains a first floor room space and effective moveable screens and staircases, while Paul Pyant's lighting alternates between the harshness and dustiness of the African light. Yet again the words the singers sing are often incredibly bland and really do nothing to add or contrast in their singing line with the music. Lyrics and music that fuse or fire one another are magical to experience, I am at loss to understand why operas so often jib at having words that do this. In Tangier Tattoo when words did sound interesting, as in the Detective's songs about what had happened to his country, they were frustratingly hard to hear. This was not due to Omar Ebrahim who has a moving singing voice but as happen frequently during the opera was due to the orchestration that drowned the singers' voices. It is surprising that the instruments used are only those you would expect in a classical orchestra. Why was no attempt made to mix traditional Arabic instruments with them in this particular setting, which might have been interesting as they operate on different scales? It did feel at times as though the creators wish to attract a new audience was hampered by their realisation that the field had been left fallow too long and musicals had moved in. What's wrong with writing operas that draw on our other musical strengths and interests? This one felt as if it was too wary of stepping too close to both the boundary with musicals and and to that of traditional Moroccan music. But it did show the company removing several of the rocks would-be opera lovers often founder on. © Thelma Good 16 December 2005 - Published on EdinburghGuide.com Cast. Nick - Roland Davitt, Nadine - Katherine Rohrer, Kramer - Paul Sheehan, Ahmed - Omar Mostafa, Rachid - Rodney Clarke, Samira - Ranin Hanna, The Tattooist - Julian Forsyth, Christina - Edel Shannon, Shelly - Rachel Lloyd, Rochelle - Nichola Jolley, Idris - Rachid Sabitri, The Detective - Omar Ebrahim, Woman At The Fountain - Hazel Gould, Hotel Manager - William El Gardi, Passport Inspector - Richard Saadé, Unofficial Guide - Sid Bessa, Shopkeeper - Essam Edriss, Holy Twin - Adam Green, Holy Twin - Stephanie Corley and European Drug-dealers - Jonas Cradock & Sean Kerr. Glyndebourne on Tour Orchestra. Leader - Robert Salter. The Glyndebourne Chorus. Chorus Master - Bernard McDonald. Assistant Conductor & Senior Coach - Stephen Higgins. Repetiteur - Catronia Beveridge. Assistant Director - Hazel Gould. Tour Details for Glyndbourne Opera also includes performances of Le Nozze Di Fogaro by Mozart and La Cenerentola (a version of Cinderella) by Rossini as well as John Lunn's Tangier Tattoo. 11 - 29 Oct at Glyndebourne, Lewes, East Sussex 01273 813813. 1 - 5 Nov at Woking New Victoria Theatre 01483 545 900 (booking fee). 8 - 12 Nov at Norwich Theatre Royal 01693 630 000. 15 - 19 Nov at Milton Keynes Theatre 0870 060 6653 (booking fee). 22 - 26 November at Plymouth Theatre royal 01752 267 222. 29 Nov - 3 Dec at Stoke on Trent Regent Theatre 0870 060 6649 (booking fee). 6 - 10 Dec at Oxford New Theatre 0870 606 3500 (booking fee). 13 - 17 December Edinburgh festival Theatre 0131 529 6000. End of tour. Theatre Editor, Thelma Good's e-mail is thelma@edinburghguide.com Although every effort has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information presented in these pages, no responsibility can be accepted for any errors or omissions. Theatre listings >
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