Unborn in America, Vault Festival, London: A dismal experience in the Waterloo Vaults
The score is devoid of structure, the libretto of wit and the direction ditto
.jpg)
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.You don’t arm yourself with pompous critical criteria when you go to a show advertising itself as a cabaret opera in the vaults underneath Waterloo station. You take your pleasure as it comes, and here it starts with the graffiti artists busy with their spray cans in the street outside.
Inside the warren of vaults you might be in Hogarth’s London, so bursting is it with unruly, gamey life, and the auditorium which Ensemble Amorpha and OperaUpClose have chosen for their new show suggests Thirties Berlin - even before Jessica Walker, the lead singer, has made her appearance like a latter-day Lisa Minnelli. And the little band under composer-conductor Luke Styles’s direction reinforces the impression, establishing an anarchic tone in which the influences of Alban Berg and Kurt Weill fuse merrily.
There is a plot of sorts, best summarized by the programme: ‘The opera satirises the hyper-conservative language of US political debate, propelling an aborted foetus on a journey into the limelight, the Oval Office, and beyond…’, and the show has been extensively workshopped. All the more surprising, then, that the score should be devoid of structure, the libretto of wit, and the direction ditto: one just wishes that Walker, Andrew Dickinson, Lucy Stevens, and Robert Gildon could have had a worthier vehicle for their talents.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments