Sebastian Torkia in That Bastard, Puccini. Photo by David Monteith-HodgeThe creative world has been littered down the ages with feuds and rivalries — Shakespeare and Marlowe, Caravaggio and Baglione, Mozart and Salieri. It seems that whenever one artistic talent produces a great work, someone is waiting in the wings to denigrate or eclipse it. Here, former friends become adversaries, having both chosen Henri Murger’s Scènes de la vie de bohème as the source material for their next grand opera. But does this three hander play (with a smattering of musical interludes) amount to a well researched and fascinating historical clash of operatic titans, or a fairly hit and miss spoofed comedy with moments of melodrama? Irrespective of whether writer and director agreed on the best approach for the piece, the results are at best muddled.
Sebastian Torkia (as larger than life Puccini), Alasdair Buchan (as dour Leoncavallo) and Lisa-Anne Wood (as his placating wife Berthe) play their superficially written roles with stilted energy, but when the author’s device of having them adopt other parts kicks-in, the wheels come-off. Taking it in turns to switch from their main character to another, often mid-scene, (e.g. during an encounter with Maestro Mahler along the canal front in Venice), looks unintentionally clunky and ham-fisted, albeit the actors try their valiant best to make the situation amusing for those watching. The fact is however, these moments are redolent of poor formatting choices around dialogue, and add unnecessary obfuscation to the plot. Where a fourth player doubling-up on supporting roles would have made perfect sense, we’re left pondering what restrictions (money, space, was someone off sick?) were at play. Certainly the wobbly walls, piano, Verdi print and brass gramophone player didn’t help matters, but the wooden floors with printed score staves was one of Carly Brownbridge’s more inventive design choices.
Mike Leigh’s 1999 movie Topsy-Turvy explored the sometimes fractious relationship between the composer and librettist pairing of Gilbert and Sullivan, which incorporated oft-comedic observations reflective of their output. However, presenting two great composers who embarked on a very public stand-off (demanding unconditional allegiance from family and friends in their mutual orbit), was an ugly affair deserving of something more substantial than a cut-price Oscar Wilde drawing room farce.
There is a lot of painstakingly researched material here, but some brave re-writes will be necessary to imbue the characters with substance and heft. That aside, Sebastian Torkia looks the absolute spit of Puccini and manages to weave much of the great man’s wily charm into his embodiment. Alasdair Buchan as Leoncavallois given less to play with, sometimes resorting to an excess of whiny fretting. Lisa-Anne Wood as long-suffering Berthe, is afforded some operatic snippets with which to impress the audience, but you can’t help wondering if she wouldn’t rather have remained at her former gig, in “Phantom…”.
THAT BASTARD, PUCCINI! runs 2 hours with interval, and continues at Park Theatre until 9th August.
