Weather Afternoon: 9°c Sunny spells Tonight: 5°c Partly Cloudy Night

Theatre

London,

The Lindbergh Flight/The Flight Over The Ocean & The Seven Deadly sins


Rating: 4 out of 5 Critic rating
Not rated

Reader rating

Your rating

one star two star three star four star five star

Click on a star to rate

Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

Flights of fantasy

Charles Workman
Flying high: Charles Workman as Lindbergh

Sue Wilson, Metro 16 Aug 2006


These two rarely performed co-creations by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht were both conceived as experimental genre hybrids, The Lindbergh Flight (1929) being styled as a "radio cantata", The Seven Deadly Sins (1933) as a ballet chanté.

Add in the celebrated boldness of Opéra National de Lyon – who also double as a ballet company – and the bold, vision of Québécois director/screenwriter François Girard and the stage is set for a rich confluence of styles. The Lindbergh Flight charts the first solo aerial Atlantic crossing.

Charles Workman as Lindbergh is borne aloft, against a vast backdrop map of his route, over the other soloists and chorus below.

The stage's scale, plus vivid evocations of the fog, storms and snow through which Lindbergh battled, create a powerful visual counterpart to the aviator's portrayal as a nexus of contradictory modern energies.

Spectacular as François Séguin's design is, though, Weill's music and Brecht's text at times lack dynamism.

A map of mainland US frames the odyssey of the twin female protagonists in The Seven Deadly Sins, a deceptively schematic parable in which Brecht subverts conventional morality.

Centred around a stunning performance by Gun-Brit Barkmin, complemented by vivacious choreography, it's more Weillian in musical terms, a potently ambivalent mix of satire, outraged protest and the grotesque.

Tonight, Edinburgh Festival Theatre, 7.15pm, £7.50 to £59. www.eif.co.uk

Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.

Reader views (0)

 Add your view

No comments have so far been submitted.


Add your comment

 

Terms and conditions Make text area bigger You have  characters left.

We welcome your opinions. This is a public forum. Libellous and abusive comments are not allowed. Please read our House Rules.

For information about privacy and cookies please read our Privacy Policy.


 

Theatre top five
Matilda The Musical
Matilda: The Musical

Cambridge Theatre

Earlham Street, WC2H 9HU

Rating: 5 out of 5
The Comedy Of Errors

National Theatre

SE1 9PX

Rating: 4 out of 5
Hamlet

Young Vic

The Cut, SE1 8LZ

Rating: 4 out of 5
The Ladykillers

Gielgud Theatre

Shaftesbury Avenue, W1D 6AR

Rating: 4 out of 5
Noises Off

Old Vic

The Cut, SE1 8NB

Rating: 4 out of 5