Amadeus – REVIEW
Image: Rahel Romahn as Mozart and Michael Sheen as Salieri in Amadeus at Sydney Opera House. Photo: Daniel Boud
This new production of Amadeus is a thorough re-imagining of Peter Shaffer’s hugely successful 1979 play; the stage is deep and sparse, the costumes are a confection, and the performances are emphatic and campy. Acclaimed Welsh actor, Micheal Sheen is a tour de force in the central role of Antonio Salieri, leading a virtuoso team of cast and creatives.
Amadeus is a collaboration between Sydney Opera House and independent company, Red Line Productions who had been trying for years to get the rights to the show. If you’ve ever attended a play at the Old Fitz Theatre in Darlinghurst, the home of Red Line Productions, then you’ll appreciate the massive leap from that diminutive 58-seat basement space to the 2,679-seat Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House.
Bigger isn’t always better, however, and the cavernous size of the auditorium has some downsides. Firstly – and surprisingly, given the much lauded recent renovations – the sound quality is a few notches from perfect. There is a discernable, if subtle, reverb. Then there is the distance and ambience of a large space which makes it difficult not only to clearly see facial expression and finer costume details, but also to feel connected.
The intimidating dimensions of the Concert Hall may account for what many critics agree is a rather bombastic delivery by Sheen as Salieri. It’s a broad, shouty performance that, perhaps by necessity, lacks nuance. Having said that, it is energetic and passionate and Sheen definite holds the audience in his thrall.
Rahel Romahn is the titular (Wolfgang Amadeus) Mozart, who is written by Shaffer as an infantile, vulgar, vain, skirt-chasing, prodigious genius – and Romahn presents this version of the great composer with physical and vocal acuity.
Lily Balatincz plays Constanze, Mozart’s wife, who is as juvenile as he is at the beginning of their relationship, but reveals herself to be a bit more street-smart and mature in matters of life and survival.
Of particular delight are the two Venticelli, Salieri’s spies, played by Belinda Giblin and Josh Quong Tart wearing bodysuits with a Baroque meets Steam-punk print. The costume design for Amadeus is by Anna Cordingley, with overall costume direction by famed fashion house, Romance Was Born. The aesthetic is Baroque/Steam-Punk/New Romantic/Fantasy with the vibrancy in the colour and shape of the costumes contrasting the starkness of the set.
Alas, the gorgeous detail in the prints is another casualty of the size of the auditorium – imperceptible to much of the audience.
Worthy of note are Toby Schmitz as the cartoonishly buffoonish, Emperor, with a handful of catch-phrases always timed perfectly for a laugh. Sean O’Shea as Baron Gottfried, Michael Denkha as Count Orsini-Rosenberg, and Joseph Althouse as Von Strack are a vaudevillian trio of court officials.
As mentioned, the set by Michael Scott-Mitchell is quite sparse, with only an 18th century light-wood piano and an antique wheel chair on either side of the foreground, then steps leading up to a rear stage that is selectively obscured by two large, sliding screen doors that either open up completely or have their shutters opened to allow partial vision through.
It has a modern feel overall. The rear stage area allows for action that isn’t part of the immediate main story. It also harbours the The Metropolitan Orchestra led by Musical Director Sarah-Grace Williams and playing excerpts of Mozart’s music live (most production of Amadeus use recorded music).
Director, Craig Ilott, whose opus encompasses a mix of circus, burlesque, variety, song, dance, and always high on flamboyance, has his fingerprints all over this production of Amadeus. It’s a variation on a theme that is as original, mischievous, surprising and clever as anything Mozart himself might have thought up.
