The Arcola Theatre’s smallish, airless black box didn’t dampen the commitment of The Ensemble OrQuesta Company’s minimalist production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni. A nine-piece chamber orchestra, led with spirit by conductor and recitative pianist Beth Fitzpatrick, sets a lively pace for the full evening — the opera is performed uncut as part of the theatre’s Grimeborn Opera Festival season.
A libretto that romanticises a libertine’s unconstrained sexual conquest of virtually every woman he encounters sits uneasily with contemporary sensibilities, particularly in the wake of #MeToo. This production wisely accepts the piece on its own terms, embracing its moral ambiguities rather than attempting a more modern perspective.
Performed on a compact stage of black platforms and tables, the uniformly black-clad company delivers a confident, committed evening of opera. Marcio da Silva leads as a suave, strong-voiced Giovanni, though doesn’t quite fully reconcile the character’s dual nature: that of predator with real menace and foil to his long-suffering servant, Leporello — nicely played by Flavio Lauria. Da Silva also directs, and his staging is often lively and clever, especially in the quartets and quintets, where performers’ movements verge on choreography to heighten comic interplay. At other times, entrances and exits are clumsy, with singers tugging each other about in a way that looks more awkward than theatric.
A witty conceptual touch involves black manikins in sequinned tops, doubling as anonymous crowds or as discarded victims of Giovanni’s countless seductions. More striking still, puppeteer Orlando Bishop animates a sinister marionette Commendatore (sung with gravitas by Vedat Dalgiran), who looms ominously at the edge of the action. In Giovanni’s fiery descent to hell, the ensemble’s flailing arms conjure the engulfing flames with eerie simplicity.
The women shine particularly brightly: Rosemary Carlton-Willis as Donna Anna delivers a beautifully shaded and affecting “Non mi dir, bell’idol mio”; Helen May’s Elvira, although too youthful in presence, impresses with her crystalline tone and purity; and Anna-Luise Wagner lends Zerlina real warmth and sincerity.
For all its pleasures — fine singing, imaginative touches, and moments of real wit — the production sometimes falters in knitting together the opera’s extremes of mood: from farce to menace, comedy to moral reckoning. Still, it makes for a spirited, often delightful evening of Mozart.
Don Giovanni
Composed by: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Libretto by: Lorenzo da Ponte
Directed by: Marcio da Silva
Conductor: Beth Fitzpatrick
Cast includes: Marcio da Silva, Flavio Lauria, Helen May, Rosemary Carlton-Willis, Anna-Luise Wagner
Puppeteer: Orlando Bishop
Until: 30 August, 2025
Running time: 2 hours, 10 minutes, including interval
Photo Credit: Julian Guidera