Prologue Opera’s Becoming Tosca is built on an intriguing idea: by inventing “backstories” for Puccini’s characters, the company hopes to make opera resonate more strongly with modern audiences. For this version of Tosca, we learn how Scarpia supposedly became the sadistic predator of the original opera, while other characters’ histories are also fleshed out. The prologue features music by Frank Moon and Carlos Gardel alongside Puccini, a choice that adds variety but also creates jarring contrasts. This approach has benefits—it deepens some roles—but it also fragments the drama and invites uncomfortable musical comparisons.
The action shifts from late 18th-century Rome to an unnamed South American country in the mid-20th century. Scarpia, now chief of the secret police, ruthlessly suppresses resistance. Cavaradossi is an artist with revolutionary sympathies, Floria Tosca a singer of humble origins turned celebrity, Spoletta a hitman, and Angelotti a naïve left-wing student. Scarpia lusts after Tosca and manipulates her by accusing Cavaradossi of murdering Angelotti. He offers a pardon at the price of her submission to his depraved desires. She resists, but cannot escape his posthumous revenge.
Anna Sideris gives a compelling Tosca, spanning the journey from choirgirl to diva with conviction and delivering “Vissi d’arte” with passion. Anthony Flaum’s silky tenor brings unexpected depth to Cavaradossi, a role that can too easily veer between helpless lover and naïve rebel. Best of all is Brendan Collins as a steely, implacable Scarpia. His “failed priest” backstory seemed unnecessary—Puccini’s score already tells us all we need about him—but the famous Te Deum nevertheless had extra bite. Jonathan Cooke (Spoletta) is suitably chilling, and Harry Gentry’s Angelotti is a touching “lamb to the slaughter.”
The music was reduced to piano and clarinet, but Berrak Dyer (musical director) and Boyan Ivanov gave virtuoso performances. While the absence of Puccini’s full orchestral palette was felt, Ivanov’s clarinet partnering Flaum in “E lucevan le stelle” was especially effective.
As is customary for Grimeborn productions at the Arcola, the set was minimal, with costume changes marking the shift from prologue to opera proper. This intimacy often works to the festival’s advantage. Here, the real weakness lay in the invented backstories and their accompanying music. The lascivious tango and revolutionary Internationale felt like a poor trade-off for the incense-laden Catholicism of the original. Yet once the piece settled into Puccini’s world, it became a gripping performance.
Prologue Opera’s mission to help modern audiences find an easier way into operatic melodrama is commendable, even if this particular experiment felt uneven. Still, the performances and the heart of Puccini’s score ensured that Becoming Tosca was, in the end, an enjoyable and thought-provoking evening.
Arcola Theatre (Grimeborn Festival)
Composer: Giacomo Puccini and others
Libretto: Luigi Illica and others
Director: Christopher Cowell (Revival by Rebecca Marine)
Performers: Anna Sideris, Anthony Flaum, Brendan Collins, Jonathan Cooke, Harry Gentry
Running time: 2 hours 15 Minutes
Dates: Until 6 September