La Traviata

Bath Opera’s Touring Production 2025

of

Giuseppe Verdi’s “La Traviata”
Director & Producer– John Clark,
Musical Director and accompanist– Dominic Irving,

Cast:
Zuleika: Cecilla
Hassan al-Freyd: John
Mohammed al-Freyd: David
Reema: Bethan Maria
Amira: Mehreen
Tariq: Robert 
Abdullah: John

As seen by Bob Allen, NODA SW District 14 Representative -

on Saturday, 19th, July, 2025
at Strode Theatre, Street, Somerset. BA16 0AB

PLEASE NOTE:

Any observation made by the reviewer can only be based on what he sees at the performance in question. The reviewer
may have received information in advance of the performance, and it is inevitable that his assessment will be affected by that knowledge.

The N.O.D.A. Representative’s intention is to give an objective critique of the overall production and in particular the
performance viewed. It should be remembered that any review of this nature can only be objective as far as the
techniques used during the performance observed. Any criticisms expressed may not have been valid at other performances and are only made to encourage higher standards in Amateur Theatre.

It is hoped that the audience’s appreciation of your efforts will have given everyone a lift and encouraged you to greater
achievements in the future and that the observations made by the reviewer will prove helpful in improving future productions.

Bath Opera advanced publicity sets the scene for this evening’s production:-
“To be convincing as a present-day setting, we have had to find a deeply conservative
society where it is crucially important to a father in high society that his son must not
marry an outsider – or his daughter’s marriage will itself be put at risk; and where the
son’s beloved belongs to a group of women who are trapped in a honeypot of pleasure under the control of men.

So we have chosen for our setting the casino in a Middle East country.”

In Tour Season the Bath Opera spreads itself as wide as possible over the
nearest towns and villages in a valiant attempt to spread the joy of opera. In
making this effort the group is bringing a taste of entertainment that may not
always be readily available locally. This evening’s performance is based at
the traditional venue, Strode Theatre, at Street in Somerset.

As the opera was re-located from the original country and all the cast names
changed I have shown the original role names by Verdi in brackets. Also we
had the pleasure of hearing the opera sung in English and I must compliment
all the cast on how they managed to infuse Italian passion into the English
lyrics.
I wanted to commence this report with thanking the Musical Director and
accompanist Dominic. His wonderful talent on the piano was a joy to hear and
his playing helped distract us during the scene changes. Listening to his
playing was an additional treat for the evening.
The opera was split between two sets of scenery – one the club where the
characters socialised and another as a private apartment. There were two
“walls” on castors which were moved around by the cast and crew. The club
scene had walls that were decorated to suggest marble and there was a large
stone type flowerpot placed centrally with bushes of greenery. There were
small tables and chairs and an overall feeling of cool opulence. The transition
from club to private room was handled with well rehearsed ease and, as
mentioned, great use of the piano. I personally thought the colour of the
reversed “walls” was wrong. I would have expected a warm sand colour
because of the foreign setting. Instead it was a patchy bright red and fixed
with various pictures. I understand that a contrast was sought to differentiate
the two sets but did it have to clash with the colour of Zuleikha’s dress? Also
the dress had sustained a tear at the front which should have been taped up
as it lowered the tone of the scene. I fully understand the problems with
having a flexible set, that could be transported, but the small details count
even on tour.
The whole play progressed at a good pace and the small cast were as
professional as expected. The energy was high and the diction good –
especially in the first act. All the cast moved around the stage as though it
was home and appeared very natural. I liked the way everyone moved across
the area and filled the spaces available. There was some good positioning on
the stage. I found that the piano was sufficient to accompany all the cast and
allowed us to hear the lyrics clearly.
Having seen the two leads earlier in “Norma” it was good to see Cecilia
(Violetta) and John (Alfredo) working together again. Cecilia has such a gorgeous vocal
range and contrasts well with the depth of voice that John can produce.
Bethan (Flora) and Erik (Doctor Marquis) made good guests at the party. Both
had great voices and brought acting to their singing roles.
Mehreen (Annina) showed so much empathy in her role and yet had the voice
and diction to bring life to the character.

David (Germont) was so constant in voice and volume that he was
unmissable when he came on stage. And he was the most smartly dressed
male in the show! His second entry, when he had changed costume, allowed
us all to clearly see his face.
Despite all the other roles he was handling to get the tour on the road John
(Baron Douphol) manage a singing role successfully and even appeared to
enjoy the part.
This was a very good evening of classic opera which the audience truly appreciated.

There is not often the chance for smaller audiences to experience singing and music of this quality. All thanks to the talent of Bath Opera.

Thank You for your kind invitation and welcome,

Kind Regards,
Bob Allen

NODA SW. District 14 Representative.

These comments solely reflect the view of the representative and can only relate to the performance seen.

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