“From moment to moment, 999 is funny, haunting, and just plain mystifying
The Voila! Europe Festival is currently running at the Cockpit Theatre, which means it’s an opportunity to see some of Europe’s most intriguing emerging companies and their latest work. Chance of the Hunter is a young Hungarian company who have come to the festival with their bleakly humorous, post-apocalyptic show 999. 999 is a multimedia show using live performers, handheld cameras, and a large screen for projecting both images and subtitles. The show is mostly in Hungarian, but every so often the company breaks out their English, and it’s impressive, despite their concerns about being understood.
It turns out that understanding is the key to this ominous vision of a world cooking in climate change. From moment to moment, 999 is funny, haunting, and just plain mystifying. It’s a non linear narrative about a maker of animal documentaries named Donald Tenborogh who abandons his work in despair. At various points in the show, Donald lists all the species which are disappearing as a result of climate change. He becomes obsessed with termites, probably because they are the one species that might even thrive as temperatures increase on our planet. Humans will not be so fortunate. Donald’s thoughts—or dreams—it’s never made clear, are presented to us in a series of short scenes, in which we encounter everything from rich people arguing about who gets to use the jacuzzi in their survival bunkers, to game shows that aim to find the ultimate “survivor.” In 999 survival means finding ways to live in a world subject to random and terrifying weather events, scorching heat, gas masks to help with unbreathable air, and fascistic governments that force a mother to give up a child to be raised by the state. That’s a lot of significant subject matter to put in a seventy five minute show. To their credit, the Chance of the Hunter Company introduce these themes with wry humor, as well as commitment. The performers give us an all too real insight into what it might feel like, living in a rapidly heating world.
Director and performer Gábor Viktor Kozma and the company use the most minimal of set design and costumes, both designed by Zsuzsi Szöke, to make the point. Performers Gedeon András, Boróka Kovács, Kozma, Emese Nagyabonyi, Blanka Szekeres and Fanni Zádor use their bodies to tell the story, helped by video cameras that show their performances from different angles, often in close up. 999 is a harsh world, and harsh camera angles bring added emphasis. Add in gas masks, a polar bear head, and oddly beautiful floating plastic capes that drift in the wake of the wearers, and 999 begins to seem like one of those dreams you’ll remember vividly when you wake up. Unfortunately, like dreams, much may seem incomprehensible when you reassess your memories. This is largely due, at least for English speakers, to the fact that the English subtitles on the screen are often obscured by the video projections. It’s like flying blind, even if it’s beautiful up there, listening to Hungarian, with striking images on screen and on stage, and atmospheric music composed by Márk Pásztor.
It’s always good to get a front row seat to watch what our Europeans friends and neighbours are working on, so check out the Voila! Europe website at the Cockpit Theatre, if the work of Chance of the Hunter, and other, equally experimental companies, appeals to you. The Cockpit Theatre is a welcoming space, and chances are good that you’ll find company members at the bar before or after the show, happy to tell you more about their work.
“a treat to see emerging young opera stars tackle less well known works”
L’Egisto, billed as a showcase for advancing young singers by the Hampstead Garden Opera, does just that in this new version of the 1643 opera at the Cockpit Theatre. Francesco Cavalli, the composer of L’Egisto (with libretto by Giovanni Faustini), was a pupil of Monteverdi, and enjoyed great success in his own time. Despite languishing forgotten until his rediscovery in the 1970s, Cavalli is now gaining popularity once again. It’s easy to see why. The opera provides lots of opportunities for the stars to show their singing abilities, and there’s even enough drama to keep the characters interesting. Some of the tropes may seem outlandish to modern eyes (Egisto’s mad scene for example) and it’s difficult to sympathize with the gods’ petty meddling in the lives of the unfortunate lovers. But there is a freshness and charm to the unfolding of events, plus some wonderful comic roles for minor characters. This opera is a perfect choice of vehicle for young singers in that regard.
The Hampstead Garden Opera’s production of L’Egisto is easy on the ears, with a talented orchestra and some outstanding voices, but fails, however, to impress the eyes to the same degree. Some choices were forced upon the company, since we are still emerging from the pandemic. Nevertheless, staging L’Egisto with an audience carefully socially distanced on three sides shouldn’t have had problematic sight lines that could have easily been eliminated if the stage had been less cluttered. With performing space at a premium in the Cockpit, it was difficult to see how the addition of shiny disks and gauzy drapes could add much, other than to distract the audience from the performers, and the performers from focusing on each other. The production itself was long; the pace appropriately measured. This production of L’Egisto would have benefitted from more economy of staging, and perhaps more attention to the performers’ costumes which seemed at variance with the opera’s setting and themes.
Setting aside, this is an ambitious production that has two casts alternating with each other for each performance. This is a great idea given the length of each performance and the fact that the company is performing twice daily. In the matinee I attended, I saw Kieran White (tenor) take on the role of Egisto with believable passion and musical dexterity, and he was well matched with his Clori (Shafali Jalota, soprano). The baroque orchestra, under the direction of Marcio da Silva, was a pleasure to listen to. They were also well placed at the back of the performing space, so that the audience could see as well as hear them.
If you are curious about baroque opera, and have yet to make Cavalli’s acquaintance, I encourage you to see this production. It’s also a treat to see emerging young opera stars tackle less well known works like L’Egisto.
