Fear of 13

“The view from Nevill Holt is over the Welland Valley, a patchwork of fields, irregular and ancient in shape with so many shades of green. On Friday night it was at its prime and looked as though David Hockney had been asked to dream up the perfect late May landscape in watercolour. Don Pasquale opened this year's Nevill Holt Festival, in the presence of its patron David Ross. The atmosphere was relaxed and friendly, but the standard spoke volumes about the care that has gone into the preparation for this annual event, and the three-week-long Nevill Holt Festival is now underway. This light-hearted opera buffa by Donizetti was first performed in Paris in 1843, and the original score has been reimagined by James Hurley into a 1960s Italian film studio, complete with a brilliant chorus of paparazzi. Norina, played by Harriet Eyley, embodied all female caprice – making a superb volte-face from victim of the patriarchy into monstrous femme fatale – within moments of marriage! Perhaps a cautionary tale. What is certain: Don Pasquale learned to regret interfering and making hasty, lusty choices. The story was relayed with all the exaggeration that an opera set in an Italian film studio can provide (quite a lot!), and ultimately the status quo returns (spoiler alert) true love prevails. The juxtaposition between the intensity of the finale of the opera followed by the wide-open landscape and dusk gave a final act to this excellent performance. As the almost full moon rose on one side of the valley and the fireball of the sun set on the other, it was incredible to believe that in this arcadia there was actually a perfect little opera house, with a full orchestra, and that Opera North had delivered a perfect Don Pasquale right here in Rutland, or as it is starting to be known, the "Nottswolds"...”

“Having gone to theatre school, I’m embarrassed to admit I never saw Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman live. Lucky me, a friend braved the early morning queue and secured tickets. This play continues to be all the rage, and in New York that means something. As a Euro in the US, the ‘American Dream’ has lived rent free in my mind for years. Miller’s play is as relevant today as ever, and I find comfort in knowing he cast doubt on the concept seventy years ago. Hope may be the strongest antidote to suffering. Steadfast belief is admired when the upside materializes, but one risks looking foolish when it never does. Miller masterfully bends hope into disillusionment, perpetual optimism into naiveté. Nathan Lane, as Willy Loman, is gut-wrenchingly believable. His wife, played by Laurie Metcalf, supports him unwaveringly as the world around them crumbles, both romantic and tragic. Biff inherits the weight of the dream and crumbles under it. Willy, caught up in his own web of delirium, fails to see his son was never the diamond in the rough he imagined. His continual attempt to polish something that simply isn’t there cuts deep. Do we keep rooting for the Willy Lomans of this world? With all their flaws, I think yes. To be clear, he really ain’t a hero. Hope is not a strategy. But I’d rather live in a world of dreamers than one dictated by realists.”