UK Theatre Network

Last year’s original version of Turkish Delight – The Opera had an anti-climatic ending, in contrast to what was a strong first half.   The writers were advised to balance the plot out.  They have quite clearly taken this suggestion on board but the level of intensity is still hard to sustain. This is partly due to its very few quiet, reflective moments.  It is like a thriller made up solely of car chases, comedy with jokes every few seconds or a sexual film containing no foreplay.  In short, there is too much light and not enough shade, making the piece hard to recognise as a whole. However the  individual songs are made up of some great harmonies.  There is a plot, we just can’t see it ,partly because of the way it’s staged but also because the audience needs to be exposed to the quiet, reflective parts to make sense of the high-octane action that has just taken place.

This performance of Turkish Delight – The Opera is its first full-length version to be put on under the A Stage Kindly name, in the hope that it will launch it, along with its performers: Adam Bayjou, Julia Buckley, Arabella Rodrigo and Victor Sgarbi.

“Over the past few years, we have staged Turkish Delight- The Opera several times and each time we have approached the show differently; learning profusely through  both our mistakes and our achievements.  Not only is this production of Turkish Delight especially exciting because we are able to apply the ideas and wisdom accumulated over the last five years into a performance, but also because we have the most extraordinary and virtuosic cast…”
Giles Howe and Katy Lipson.

In the opening song Betsy Cohen awakes to her cigarette.  Singer Arabella Rodrigo’s voice manages to effortlessly glide between Opera and Rock, if a little warbly at times.
 

During the  next three songs, Julia Buckley duets with younger male vocalist Adam Bayjou, whose voice, a little forced at times, fades out as the voice of the maturer male vocalist, Victor Sgarbi, comes in and we feel somewhat more at ease.
 

Song 5 ‘Argument’ is a duet between Arabella Rodrigo and Victor Sgarbi, who play husband and wife.   We notice the fury in her eyes,  enhanced even more by the heavy, almost drag artist-type make-up she is wearing as she sings the closing line: “He’s forgotten that tomorrow is my birthday… romance is dead” Earlier lines are blunter, such as “why won’t you fuck me like you used to?!”, only emphasising just how loveless their marriage truly is. 

In ‘Only Human’ when Victor Sgarbi begins singing the lyrics “a long time ago my marriage died”, I am put off by the fact that he is the only one in the cast who has to occasionally glance at the score.  One can only ask ‘Is this a sign that he does not know the part he is playing or was he brought in at the last minute as a stand-in?’

In ’16 Bars’ Julia Buckley and Victor Sgarbi duet together and I must say harmonise well.  Buckley also shows a great ability to act her way through the song. This is absolutely crucial but a lot of musical theatre actors still fail to do so.
 

I heard ‘Angel Delight’ (where Adam Bayjou’s character sings of his girlfriend who has left him, assuming he is gay) when it was featured in Encore, an acclaimed showcase of new musicals put on by A Stage Kindly back in March 2009.  Adam Bayjou’s version of it is beautiful but “I could love you”,in the last line, ends the song rather too abruptly.

I was not so keen on ‘Allegory’ but I can see that it is used as a tool to help glue the story together, with its explanation of how the two lovers first came to be together.  

In ‘Briturkey’ the young male sings of his fears of arriving in Turkey and not being able to speak the language.

The next  songs: ‘Can We Go Dancing?’, ‘My Heart Bleeds’ and ‘Do You Remember? are a mixture of duets and trios .One could compare the vocals of Victor Sgarbi to that of Jonathan Pryce and in ‘Believe’ Adam Bayjou’s voice is allowed to shine through.

In ‘The Confrontation’ and ‘Turkish Delight’ Julia Buckley sings whilst sobbing, showing great compassion after her lover’s stabbing. When she sings the words “I just cannot do it alone”, she picks up the pace as her voice becomes angrier and ends on “You are my Turkish Delight”. A well thought out close to Act I.

Act II opens with Arabella Rodrigo and the songs ‘Entr’acte’, ‘The Letter’’ and ‘Going Potty’ in which the higher notes are not well sustained and are quite wobbly, when hearing of her husband’s murder.

At The Funeral in ‘Kaddish’ the deceased plays the rabbi. This does not help the consistency of the piece.

Julia Buckley in ‘Over You’ questions why she ever allowed herself to get involved with a married man. She shows great spontaneity.  I am very impressed as she sings the lines “still I can’t get you out of my head” and can find a clear comparison between her and singer of ‘The Snowman’, Aled Jones. She impresses me again in ‘Jeremiad’.

The priest abruptly rushes in during the song ‘You Think I’m Stupid’, openly having forgotten his cue.

Victor Sgarbi also plays the judge in ‘The Trial’. During the chorus there is a rendition of “NOT GUILTY, GUILTY…” from all of the characters, to

put across the idea of there being many people there.

Arabella Rodrigo breaks down during ‘Then It All Stopped’ singing the lines

(the colouring of her husband’s mistress) but it is overly dramatic and painful to watch.

 All the voices are present in ‘The Poisoning’ where the wife reveals false elixir she intends to offer to the mistress with the true intent of poisoning her,( a reference to Romeo & Juliet).

After the mistress drinks the elixir, the wife sings “you’ve made your bed, now lie in it” in ‘Wife’s Doubt’.

Julia Buckley, the mistress, shows off her octave leaps in ‘Inside My Dreams’. Arabella Rodrigo,on the other hand, displays non-smooth vocal transitions in ‘Always In My Life’ when she sings “when you had an affair you drove me to despair”.

In the finale and for the reprise of ‘Turkish Delight’ all four singers take to the stage once again. The wife is being offered a sharp instrument to do away with herself and we are all thinking to ourselves ‘Just get on with it, would you!’

Anyone who just so happened to see the show feel free to e-mail your feedback to astagekindly@aol.com

You can keep up-to-date with future A STAGE KINDLY performances at: www.astagekindly.com