| From Cars to Mars.National Waterfront Museum, Swansea. May 24 2006 |
Review | South Wales Evening Post It was perhaps inevitable that the first ever "street opera" to be staged in Wales - a collaboration between Swansea City Opera, Cyrenians Cymru and Dragon Arts and Learning Centre - should have been staged in Swansea's latest "iconic" building, the National Waterfront Museum. While not strictly a performance venue, the Museum nevertheless proved to be a highly appropriate space in which to stage this spirited and inventive exploration of transport down the ages, from the invention of the wheel right through to time travel. To see a show in which operatic professionals rub shoulders with hugely dedicated and enthusiastic amateurs is rare indeed: if ever there was proof that the performing arts can help to develop character, confidence and social skills then this was it, and it was clear that the performers got as much of a buzz from the experience as the audience who had gathered to watch them. Operatic veterans Bridget Gill, Andrew Gallacher and the sublime Kate Woolveridge were all on supreme form while members of Dragon Arts - Kay Thomas, Ivor Sloan, David Colclough, Marion Pritchard, Darren Murugasan, Natalie Mayne, Shaun Gillespie and Carey Hill - fared brilliantly in their respective roles., each bringing their own individual touches to the production. Packed with pop culture references(including a clever inversion of Ron Grainer's Doctor Who theme)and enough audience participation to make a timid reviewer shift uncomfortably in his chair - and no, in case anyone is wondering I did not join in - this was great fun and one hopes that it might be developed into a larger scale project, perhaps enabling more people to share their talents with the community at large. Graham Williams |