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Social Comedy
Britten's 'Albert Herring' at the Buxton Festival,
reviewed by MIKE WHEELER
Albert Herring, Britten's one operatic foray into social comedy, has inevitably lost a bit of its edge over the years, with the resulting danger of it becoming something of a cosy nostalgia-fest. This is particularly true if, like director Francis Matthews here, you choose to set it not in the early 1900s as originally conceived, but in the late 1940s when it was written, which brings it within living memory of at least some of the audience.
The upside is that it places the action in a period of post-war change and social upheaval, but 'before we had teenagers', as designer Adrian Linford commented in the pre-show talk...
Copyright © 17 July 2017
Mike Wheeler,
Derby UK
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