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I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Pop-Up Opera, review: Tragedy goes underground

Engaging: The Pop-Up Opera perform in unconventional spaces: Richard Lakos
Engaging: The Pop-Up Opera perform in unconventional spaces: Richard Lakos

The company’s name says it all: Pop-Up Opera makes a point of not performing in conventional theatres. This week it has gone underground, to the Vaults Theatre, deep in the meandering network of tunnels and chambers beneath Waterloo Station. It’s an oddly fitting venue for Bellini’s Romeo and Juliet opera, I Capuleti e i Montecchi (Capulets and Montagues), written in 1830 and not, in fact, based on Shakespeare.

James Hurley’s production embraces the Pop-Up aesthetic: costumes are everyday modern; few props (inevitably including mobile phones); piano accompaniment; the original Italian text; intermittent captions to keep us abreast of developments. The style suits comedy, but yields fewer dividends in tragedy, especially when the captions’ informality causes veiled titters.

Still, the cast is comfortable with Bellini’s long, soaring lines. As Romeo (a trouser role) Flora McIntosh is in fine voice, making good use of her powerful chest register. If Giuglietta is a less convincing character, Alice Privett puts flesh on her meagre dramatic skeleton.

Last night, Cliff Zammit-Stevens had tonsilitis, so he lip-synced the role of Tebaldo while Oliver Brignall sang his heart out from the sidelines. The effect was oddly engaging, as was the piano accompaniment, played with a refined sense of emotional chiaroscuro by Berrak Dyer. Adding to the silent movie effect, passing trains rumbled ominously overhead, as if announcing the imminent crack of doom.

Until Thursday at The Vaults then touring; popupopera.co.uk