INDEPENDENT OPERA at Sadler's Wells

The Sofa and The Departure

Reviews

The Independent

The Sofa/The Departure *****

By Michael Church

'...When a work gets a smart premiere followed by decades of oblivion, it is usually for a good reason. So it is all the more surprising that Elizabeth Maconchy’s one–acters, The Sofa and The Departure, should prove to have such fresh and timeless appeal...'

'...The party that director Alessandro Talevi and designer Madeleine Boyd devise as the framework for this event is very Noughties Hoxton, as are its louche denizens. Everyone on stage looks good, acts well and sounds marvelous...'

'...The way Sharratt morphs into his own sofa is ingenious; under Talevi’s direction, everything joyfully bursts the bonds of decorum, with the ubiquitous coupling at once comic and indecently real...'

'...But the cleverest thing about this production is the way it goes with the flow of the music...'

'...With heroic performances by Louise Poole and Håkan Vramsmo, an exemplary work by Dominic Wheeler’s chamber ensemble, it’s congratulations all round...'