I was thoroughly amused and enjoyed myself at the Opera, but in order to write a review, I need to dwell on some critical points... so here goes nothing:

I know that placing the opera based near Seville and with the ideals of pre-revolutionary France in an English stately home of the early Thirties a bit of a stretch of the imagination. The characters: Figaro was a little too mature and bootlicking and Susanna was too uptight, prim and proper. There seemed to be little sexual chemistry between Susanna and Figaro, leaving only Cherubino with any real interpretation of what should have been the role of the others. Almaviva, was not aristocratic and the Countess a big lump leaving it to one's imagination of how they could have got together in the first place. So what was the directors message? Not sure. This period before the war of the aristocratic English isn't a setting for when servants stood up to their masters and gypsies kidnapped lost stately babies. This original form of the opera has a subversive nature and a lot more humour which seemed to be left out. And the set..the 'supposedly' new big ideas..we definitely know that they were plucking geese so their feather could fly without any purpose later on and what was the new big bang ending....balloons? And why did the servants' marital bedroom alias tissue box, range from being above the stage, then lurking on either side of the stage in the next acts mean? The border of flowers seem to divide or hide the audience from...the acting? Charlev

Thanks, Charlev. I've not seen it - or any opera for that matter - but I think it's great that we have theatre reviews on here.

Last great thing I saw at the theatre was Beckett's Happy Days at the Arts a few years back. Brilliantly miserable. I should try and go to the theatre more often. The Sheffield Lyceum's only a stones throw away.

Thanks Sammy, I think Daphne Du Maurier's Don't Look Now is showing at your local theatre - about a death in Venice. Haven't seen it but her collection of short stories under that title is excellent. There are 5 stories and I liked the first one best - the name of the book - like du Maurier's classic novel Rebecca, this is a taunt psychological thriller with a surprise ending.
...wish I lived down the road from it... Cheers Charlev

Well, I say a stones throw... I'm assuming I'd have caught the number 47 for about ten minutes first...