The Devil Inside: Music by Stuart MacRae; libretto by Louise Welsh. Conducted by Michael Rafferty. Directed by Matthew Richardson. Until Mar. 13 at the Harbourfront Centre Theatre, 235 Queens Quay W,; tapestryopera.com
[Originally published in the Toronto Star]
The opera bells were ringing last night, for what might become Tapestry’s finest production since Artistic Director Michael Mori took the helm in 2014.
A tight score and even tighter story did the impossible – they managed to present a new opera that doesn’t rely on transadaptation, snarky humour, or controversial figures like Rob Ford or Bill Clinton: The Opera. “The Devil Inside” builds on universal cues from the Faust legend, and like a great Houdini escape, it mystified with an easy to follow story over a 110-minute time frame; it felt timeless.
A co-production between Tapestry Opera, Scottish Opera and Music Theatre Wales, it takes Louise Welsh’s adapted story from Robert Louis Stevenson’s “The Bottle Imp”, and twists it into a sordid Netflix binge-watchable opera in four scenes.
You can have it, but you will have to pay for it, as is the way of the devil inside the glowing green bottle. The catch is that you can sell the flask, but only for a lower price, otherwise, you are damned for all eternity. A juicy enough plot, if I’ve ever heard one.
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The production uses only four singers. Richard, played by Tenor Nicholas Sharratt, is a neurotic personality and a close friend of James, played by baritone Ben McAteer – the more level-headed of the two whom rage against the forces of temptation presented by the Old Man and Vagrant (baritone Steven Page). James marries Catherine, played by mezzo Rachel Kelly, whose voice is a smoke made with the fume of yearning. The bottle gets passed around like a hot potato until Catherine presents a Gordian knot resolution against the fate of the Imp that refuses to let go.
Stuart MacRae’s score is masterfully taut and presents the vocal lines with nearly all of the melodic material. This leaves the 14-member orchestra as a kind of soundstage that punctuates the eerie tale’s twists and turns with a miraculously endless supply of extended techniques. All of this, controlled swimmingly by conductor Michael Rafferty, offered a rare aural treat that had the contemporary music lovers in the room leaning forward.
The production, designed by Samal Blak, relies on an economical simplicity with simple scrims and lighting by Ace McCarron for the effect. Less is more, and collectively The Devil Inside owes its success to an economy of means that is both elegant and compelling.
Fistbump to Tapestry Opera for bringing this incredible new opera to Toronto. Three words: Go see it.
#LUDWIGVAN
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