The Magic Flute may be an allegory of the triumph of enlightenment but Mozart knew very well that a good show needs action, so he added sundry villains and the doltish bird-catcher Papageno to liven things up.

The problem is that Papageno's earthy appetites seem far more attractive than the good guys' rather pallid philosophising. One day I hope to see a production that makes Sarastro and his band of initiates into something other than a cranky cult.

Simon Callow's new staging for Opera Holland Park doesn't manage it, and sometimes the direction resorts to routine opera house traffic control, but the story gets told plainly enough. On the other hand, there is nothing plain about the vivid abstraction of the sets, designed by Royal Academician Tom Phillips; economical but striking, they evoke the snakes-and-ladders traps that Tamino negotiates on his journey of selfdiscovery, while the costumes offer a witty melange of styles and eras to make the action as timeless as it needs to be. Jane Glover conducts a performance that is light on its feet, and unusually at Holland Park, the opera is sung in English. The gain in dramatic immediacy is palpable, the singers making the most of the opportunity to communicate directly.

No one does it better than Jonathan Gunthorpe, whose performance as Papageno has such flair that you'd never guess that he was drafted in at short notice. A natural comic, he's Tommy Cooper one minute, Eric Morecambe the next, but he also sings with genuine charm.

In comparison Andrew Staples is a rather stiff presence as Tamino but the voice has a wonderfully flexible lightness that for once makes you warm to the character.

If Fflur Wyn can't quite manage to put a face to Pamina, his winsome bride-to-be, she sings with appealing clarity, while Penelope Randall-Davis gets both venom and pinpoint accuracy into the character of the Queen of the Night. She's more than a match for Tim Mirfin's pleasantly voiced but somewhat under-characterised Sarastro. Once again the Devil has the best tunes.

Tonight and in rep until 12 July. Information: 0845 230 9769.