Mark Ravenhill’s much reduced 90-minute version of Puccini’s best work transposes the action from 1830’s Paris to a grim modern-day London.
3 May 2022
I suppose there is a debate to be had about whether a review of Puccini’s late 19th century opera La Bohème should even be in a London Theatre Review site. However, as the show is running at my best-loved pub theatre, and is directed by one of my favourite dramatists, I think an exception is justified.
It is not exactly clear where in London it is set, but as Marcus, the ‘Marcello’ of this production tells us, “It’s a bit stabby, but at least there’s a Lidl”. I am guessing we are talking the Ns or the Es.
The production is focussed on the work’s two central relationships. Rob, the ‘Rodolfo’ character is a not-very-good gay writer, whose unfinished soft porn novel is airily dismissed by straight flatmate Marcus as ‘Fifty Shades of Beige’. As Rob gets ready to join Marcus for a Christmas drink at the Nags Head, he takes an idle swipe through Grindr (haven’t we all) and chances upon HIV positive Lucas, known to his friends as ‘Mimi’.
A nervous Mimi duly pops over to Rob’s for a brief hook-up, but something clicks between them. Eschewing the chance for a quickie, the men decide to join a flustered Marcus who is trying to manage the appearance in the pub of his ex-girlfriend Marissa (the production’s ‘Musetta’).
Unfortunately, it soon transpires that as well as dodgy health, Mimi has an addiction problem and, it is hinted, a penchant for sex parties. However much love the men have for each other, things do not look good.
With a total of one piano and four singers, quite a lot has inevitably gone from the original story. Puccini’s themes of love, happiness and heart-break are still there, but with no Schaunard or Colline characters, and no obvious hardship, the production does not have much obvious to say about the nature of friendship or abject poverty.
That said, few gay men of a certain age in London will have escaped the loss of lovers, friends, or friends-of-friends to HIV, or to Tina or G addictions. The dilemma and heartache the Rob faces, and Mimi’s struggle to manage his ongoing ability to cope with life, struck an urgent and evident chord with the King’s Head audience. Mimi’s gurning face as he turns up in the final act, wasted and uninvited, at the home of a bewildered Rob, reinforces the message that bohemian London is often not bohemian at all.
The new libretto by Philip Lee and David Eaton is full of wit. Marcus’ joy at selling a fire alarm installation from the wall of an art gallery for £20K is hilarious, and there is plenty of visual humour too (the characters were taking large gulps from a ‘Tosca Falls’ drinking fountain).
Does it work? Overall, I think so. The two key love stories work well, even if the musical production occasionally struggles to bring in enough light and shade in the absence of full orchestration and sweeping soprano voices.
Definitely worth a look.
Robin Daniel Koek
Mimi Philip Lee
Marcus Matthew Kellett
Marissa Grace Nyandoro
Score Giacomo Puccini
Original Concept Adam Spreadbury-Maher & David Eaton
New English Libretto Philip Lee & David Eaton
Director Mark Ravenhill
Musical Director David Eaton
Associate Director Izzy Edwards
Musical Assistant Anders Waller
Production Manager/Designer Kit Hinchcliffe
Lighting Advisor Joe Underwood
Costume Supervisor Simon Fraser
Stage Manager Paris Wu
Associate Producer Jessie Anand
Produced by King’s Head Theatre and Making Productions
Full Disclosure: I paid full box-office price for the ticket.
