“a wonderful production that really feels as though it has been created for a community by members of that community”
An opera based on a book about obsessive fans of Arsenal football club sounds like a rather strange premise. Strangely though it works. The premiere of Fever Pitch the Opera by Highbury Opera Theatre is a highly enjoyable piece of theatre.
The four leads are played by professionals who all give strong performances and perform Scott Stroman’s music beautifully. The rest of the cast is made up of adults and children from the local community; sometimes their words are a little lost, but apart from that they are excellent. What really stands out is the performance of the children and young adults involved. Throughout the performance they really excel themselves and it’s wonderful to see younger people enjoying drama so much.
Scott Stroman’s score is lovely; the melodies he creates are easy to listen to and inherently likeable. It’s not particularly memorable though as most of the musical numbers are just vague memories to me the day after the show. For me there was no moment where the goosebumps made an appearance.
The libretto feels a little underdeveloped. It’s hard to form any sort of emotional connection to the main character, Gooner (Robin Bailey), because not much is really communicated to us about him. The scenes that are not completely focused on football feel like a rushed afterthought at points.
Union Chapel is an outstandingly beautiful venue for performances. It is also one that could prove quite tricky to use effectively yet Bernie C. Byrnes’ direction is masterful. The placing of the chorus in different locations throughout the building adds another dimension to the voices and makes the audience feel surrounded by the action. Moving them throughout the audience is another touch that helps create quite a special atmosphere.
The set is simple which leaves us to appreciate our spectacular surroundings more than we would have with something more complex. A clock dominates the area above the stage and acts as an effective way to show the audience the passage of time. Lighting wise, Union Chapel doesn’t need too much, so this too has been kept relatively simple.
This is a piece of community theatre, which really utilises that; it’s for the people that it is being performed to, all those who love their local team. As I looked around the audience during the show, I saw how important this was to them. Fever Pitch is a wonderful production that really feels as though it has been created for a community by members of that community.
