In the Penal Colony
The Haymarket

AN intense evening of opera at The Haymarket was not for the faint-hearted – but then composer Philip Glass’s adaptation of a Kafka short story all about a machine of torture and execution was never going to be light entertainment.

Before the start of the one-act opera, which was a UK premier by Music Theatre Wales, its director Michael McCarthy gave a very informative talk to introduce the prolific composer, the harrowing tale and to discuss some of the issues it explores with the audience.

According to McCarthy, the 73-year-old minimalist composer has written 23 orchestral works, more than a dozen concertos, 38 film scores – including The Hours and The Truman Show – and 26 operas, among many other achievements.

The director described him as a “theatre thinker” who does not paint the drama with dramatic music, but subtly allows the audience and actors to draw their own conclusions. Indeed, it is the audience’s imagination, sent to dark places by the work’s horrific subject matter, and Glass’s repetitive rhythms that creates the full horror of the machine.

Kafka’s narrative follows a Visitor, tenor Michael Bennet, who arrives at a penal colony to witness the execution of a foreign inmate – The Condemned Man, played by Gerald Tyler – who is to be tortured and killed by a terrible contraption operated by The Officer, played with childlike glee by a remarkable Omar Ebrahim.

Despite his silent part, Tyler’s continuous but gentle movements constantly remind the audience of his fate, without distracting from Bennet and Ebrahim.

Glass’s carefully constructed score gradually and subtly builds up the tension of the piece, masterfully played by The Music Theatre Wales Ensemble under the baton of Michael Rafferty.

The opera, in English, was easy to follow and the excellent cast of three and a bare set managed to fill The Haymarket stage, with the help of clever lighting design.

Basingstoke is privileged to have hosted such an innovative and thought-provoking evening of opera.