The Marriage of Figaro

The opening scene was a bit bland as we see Susannah and Figaro moving in to their new abode. There was no expression on any faces and lacking in energy.

It took me a while to warm to Jeremy Kleeman’s Figaro as he moved around the stage like a marionette. Once I did though, I had fun watching his antics. Sofia Troncosco as Susannah was understated and quite lovely. They both had gorgeous voices but often I couldn’t hear Jeremy very well.

Eva Kong as the Countess performed beautifully but came across as restricted by the horrendous costumes she wore. Actually, I found all the costumes pretty drab. Back to the Countess – I enjoyed her singing very much and the duets with Susannah were a highlight.

The most outstanding performance of the production was from Xenia Puskarz Thomas as Cherubino, the Page. A stunning voice with a fabulous characterisation, her acting skills were many notches above the others.

Some performances didn’t engage me at all and I was distracted by awkward physicality and strange blocking. I didn’t read the full program until after the show so I didn’t understand the set design. After updating myself it makes sense but the realisation didn’t quite work for me with the story.