La belle Hélène by Suffolk Opera, Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds
The opening scene of La Belle Helene introduces us to the goddesses Juno (Caren Friel), Minerva (Anna Murgatroyd) and Venus (Lisa Cassidy) who have been bickering about who is the most beautiful. Jupiter has decided that a mortal should decide the matter and so on Mount Ida, Paris, Prince of Troy (Anthony Flaum) is selected and chooses Venus, the goddess of love. In return for this great compliment, Venus promises him the love of the most attractive women on earth; which everyone knows to be Helen of Sparta (Clare Presland), or Helen of Troy as she is better known.
Paris is disguised as a shepherd when he is first introduced to Helen but she still takes an instant shine to him. The only problem standing in their way is that she is now married to the ageing and boring Menelaus, King of Sparta (John Meers). Helen is torn between her duty as wife and Queen and her affections for Paris, so she enlists Calchas, Chief Augur (Jon Openshaw) to devise a plan which enables them to be together and that’s when the antics begin.
Although there were some weaker solo performances the main characters played their parts well, with Clare Presland (Helen), Anthony Flaum (Paris), John Meers (Menelaus) and Derek S Henderson (Agamemnon) all first-rate. The chorus, the music (played on the piano by Peter Cowdrey), the costumes and the set were all good.
The highlight of the night was the hilarious duet with Ajax, King of Salamis (Mark Kerr) and Achilles, King of Myrmidons (Dan Addis). This was totally unexpectedly but delivered superbly with plenty of humour and cheek which had the whole audience in stitches. They also recieved the biggest cheer and applause at the end of the evening. A thoroughly enjoyable performance which left the whole audience with a real buzz at the end of the evening, what a fantastic way to start the weekend! I couldn’t recommend a Suffolk Opera production more – so if you get a chance to see them I’m sure you won’t be disappointed, even if you’ve never been to an opera before, this is a great introduction.
Kerry Burn, onesuffolk, 22nd November 2010
