Adelaide Fringe review 2017: Chamber Pot Opera
THREE young women meet in the ladies powder room. Each has a story. They communicate by singing operatic arias.
Chamber Pot Opera
Music *****
Piccadilly Cinema Powder Room, until March 5
THREE young women meet in the ladies powder room. Each has a story.
They communicate by singing operatic arias — solo, duet and finally trio — and virtually no dialogue.
What little there is could be omitted without loss.
They are very modern young women, with mobile phones and careers, not the outdated stereotypes of conventional opera.
The result is a very original, delightful and finally moving piece of musical theatre.
The three very gifted singers, equally talented as actors, are Sally Alrich-Smythe as the abused woman, Camilla Wright as the successful executive and Britt Lewis as the nervous young lesbian after her first date; Viet Nguyen accompanies at the keyboard.
The music comes from Purcell, Bizet, Mozart (I love the idea of Cherubino — a cross-dressing role in the original — as a lesbian), Delibes, Massenet — and I’ve probably forgotten something.
Don’t be surprised to see these singers on great operatic stages in the future. In the meantime, go along and see this great little show — it’s a gem.
Stephen Whittington