Read what our audiences had to say about Madam Butterfly
Penny
You will be pleased to hear that we were blown away by the production, totally delighted and impressed. Each element of the production, from the orchestra and singers to the design, lighting, puppets and costume worked together to make a stunning whole and no one element dominated any other. (I have a feeling that the lack of this harmony was what spoiled Carmen for us). I thought the use of the 'hill' at the back of the stage made for thrilling entrances, and the 'Sorrow' puppet was inspired and much more moving than the usual little blond boy. The lighting was exceptionally beautiful and interesting, and the Act 1 love duet with the lanterns was gorgeous. All the principals were great, particularly Judith Howarth and Gwyn Hughes Jones, and when they really let rip my hair stood on end. Definitely my best Madam Butterfly to date, and possibly my best opera! I am so pleased not to have to be a moaning punter this time.
Review by Drew Colby
Last night, being the night before my birthday, I decided, as a treat, to take myself off to see the English National Opera performance of Anthony Minghella's "Madam Butterfly". I had heard a great deal about this performance, not only because of its use of puppetry, but also because of its excellent direction. Accompanying me was a friend who is not in to opera, but loves theatre in various other forms.
Was I disappointed reader? NO. This performance rocked my world entirely, from all angles.
To start with Puccini's opera is justly recognised as a great piece of theatre. His gift for writing pungent music apt to the situation and character, coupled with a well-constructed, poetic and thoughtful libretto and a good story makes this a memorable night at the theatre. Added to this was a very simple and striking visual design. A black stage was punctuated by constantly shifting white screens and highly coloured costumes. What was so great about this production was that all of the puppet and scenic aspects were taken directly from Japanese culture - so the four puppets used were bunraku puppets, a third life-size (or thereabouts) and operated by three puppeteers. Elsewhere in the opera (during the dawn prelude to act three) a flock of paper cranes flew across the stage. They were real origami cranes. Much use was also made of fans.
I am an odd sort of puppeteer, in that I don't generally like realistic puppets. Something about their aestheti c bothers me, and so any realistic puppet that crosses my path has got his/her work cut out to convince me. Well, imagine my surprise when, early in act one where the marriage broker introduces the three servants to Pinkerton, I discovered that two of the three servants were really puppets. Both my friend and I momentarily thought they were either children or small actors, before the scale and puppeteers grouped behind them made us realise who they really were. And these puppets were used to great comic effect.
The real coup de theatre however came in the second act, when Butterfly reveals to the consul she has had a child. I have seen numerous productions that use a real child here, but given that the child is meant to be three (and in reality is normally closer to five or six) what came next was a stroke of genius. The child was played by a puppet.
The puppetry was excellent. The three veiled puppeteers (one of whom must have very t ired knees this morning) made the little one toddle like a toddler. He looked about like a three year old. The singers very convincingly interacted with the puppet. But what most impressed me about this, was that somehow (and I saw this with the performance of Dido and Aeneas I attended which used puppets) a puppet has a special element of vulnerability. And seeing him on this big stage with the tragic story of Butterfly unfolding all around him, the opera suddenly took on a new element of fragility. I spent most of the second act drenched.
What is it about a puppet that is so vulnerable? Is it that, at any moment the puppeteers could walk away leaving this inanimate thing a lifeless rag-doll? Defenceless? This dynamic certainly worked here.
Elsewhere, in the prelude to act three, a puppet Madam Butterfly danced with a human dancer. This beautiful piece of choreography had one particularly striking moment. The puppet, left by the dancer, expresses h er sorrow by losing her footing slightly. At that moment her facial expression seemed to change, and this puppet with immovable features suddenly looked sad.
I don't want to give away too much detail about the brilliant, and thought-provoking ending (suffice it to say that the combination of the visual image, lighting and what was going on in the orchestra pit left my friend with the taste of metal in her mouth), but I do urge people to go and see this production even if you hate opera. Visually it is stunning (the duet at the end of act one is one of the most sumptuous things I have heard and seen, and done so simply- a descending curtain of blossoms giving the feeling that everything onstage was floating) and it is a master-class in the uses of puppetry and how two stylised mediums (puppetry and opera) work so well hand in hand to move an audience, and to give a fresh perspective on a well-loved work.
The curtain call at the end of the opera, besi des being beautifully crafted, was also revealing. Judith Howarth, who sang the most incredible Butterfly I have heard, with a hugely beautiful lyric voice, maximum commitment to the very good translation and an uncanny ability to float off high pianissimos throughout the evening, justly received a huge accolade. But do you know what? The accolade for the three puppeteers who operated the child was almost as big. A warm-heart moment for a puppeteer and opera lover.
Go and see it- but drink loads of water first, because I guarantee you'll come out dehydrated at the end if you don't!
Review by Lynne McGowan
Beautiful and visually impressive re set, lighting and costumes but.....the child puppet is appallingly bad. It is amaterish 'out of date' puppetry and is on stage far too often.
Looks-wise it lacks the 'essence' of a child and instead looks like an mini alien or mutant little old man with a funny little head and big bulky body (in a sailor suit??)with big feet and hands. Children of that age are the opposite, they have proportionally largish heads and small bodies, little feet and hands.
The puppeteers need to study how 3yr olds move, they don't sidle about like crabs, the movements were completely unrealistic and non-childlike, is it necessary to have three of them operating? Maybe that is part of the problem. When there is a production like 'Warhorse' about whereby the puppets and puppeteers are superbly realistic, there can be no allowance for anything less on a production of this quality. Until some changes/updating is made I would suggest keeping the child's appearance to an absolute minimum as it is jarring and in my view negatively distracting to the tragic drama.
