Director Orpha Phelan and costume and set designer Nicky Shaw have been receiving excellent reviews for Irish National Opera's production of La bohème:
How to have something new to say in one of the most celebrated operas of all time? This was the challenge facing director Orpha Phelan in Irish National Opera's new production of La bohème. By setting the opera in Paris in the 1920s, assembling a stellar cast of singers and with no little help from the realistic sets, costumes and the super-responsive orchestra, she succeeded in creating an emotionally-charged, masterful production of this classic tear-jerker.
Nicky Shaw's sets and costume designs are spot-on, readily capturing the gritty, bohemian atmosphere. An impressive two-storey outer wall, lined with arches and windows, functions as both the ramshackle, impoverished artists’ studio and as the cheerful commercial backdrop to the Café Momus. … Costumes are lively and relatable, with caps and waistcoats being the order of the day and some wonderful, if brief, pageantry from the police and marching band. The transformation of Musetta in Act 2 from top-hat-and-tails to sequins is hilarious.
Andrew Larkin, bachtrack.com *****
Phelan takes us not to the 19th century, but rather to the interwar years in the French capital. La Bohème sweeps us along on a wave of emotion. Irish National Opera have created a worthy production of Puccini’s great work.
Designer Nicky Shaw, meanwhile, nods to the art of that time, literally raising Mimi’s gelida manina to a cinematic plane, as images of it and her profile float above the bohemians’ makeshift studio. It all makes perfect sense, and does not stop the production conveying the essence of what Puccini was trying to do here: integrate feeling and realistic drama with the most sumptuous music.
Alan O’Riordan, Irish Examiner ****
In Irish National Opera's production of La Bohème, finally taking to the stage in all its spectacular splendour, magic informs every moment of Orpha Phelan's breathtaking direction ... Phelan refreshingly exciting compositions a whirlwind of expressive energy that leaves you struggling to tear your eyes away to read the surtitles. Even though you know how it all ends, Phelan has you hoping against hope it might yet be otherwise whilst teasing out oft forgotten themes. ... A tragic tale that's an absolute joy, Phelan delivers a tour-de-force.
Chris O'Rourke, theartsreview.com *****
Puccini’s opera is full of antics and Orpha Phelan gets them all right, from joyous mayhem to emotional darkness.
[Nicky] Shaw … have people not appearing from the wings but emerging unsettlingly out of nowhere, complete darkness, notably a troop of black-clad monks who pass through without a word to the sound of predawn church bells.
Michael Dungan, The Irish Times ****
La bohème, staged by Irish National Opera, continues at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Dublin on Wednesday November 22nd, Thursday November 23rd, Saturday November 25th and Sunday November 26th 2023. Find out more and book tickets here.
Watch the trailer here.
