If you think child abuse, rape and racism are not suitable subjects to be put on stage, or if you wince at hearing numerous swear words, Mark-Anthony Turnage’s latest opera is not for you, but if you want to be stunned by a gripping plot, brilliantly powerful music and a magnificent cast, then you will appreciate Festen as the best new opera London has seen for many years.
‘Festen’ is the Danish for a party or celebration and it begins with a large number of guests arriving in carefree mood to celebrate the 60th birthday of Helge Klingefeldt, but the party soon turns sour when Helge’s eldest son, Christian, makes the first speech at the dinner in which he denounces his father, in a very matter-of-fact tone, as a child molester. He later also accuses him of driving his own daughter to suicide.
As these revelations come to light and the hidden family secrets are revealed, we are unsure whether Helge is a monster or whether Christian is a fantasist. The guests at the meal are bemused and another of Helge’s sons, Michael changes the mood by getting everyone to sing Baa, baa, black sheep as a racist chant to embarrass his sister’s black boy-friend, while the Master of Ceremonies tries to lighten the tension by getting everyone to dance a conga.
All these mood-swings and uncertainty have inspired Turnage to write a powerful score that emphasizes the emotions behind what we are seeing. While the orchestra, brilliantly conducted by Edward Gardner, tend to be relatively quiet while the characters are singing, the music becomes louder and more intense and dynamic underlining the changes of mood as the plot develops.
As the audience entered the auditorium, we all found cards on the backs of our seats inviting us, in Danish, to Helge’s 60th birthday celebrations. At the time, this may have seemed just a nice gimmick but there was more to it than that. We were all being invited to participate in the shock and bemusement felt by the characters onstage. This was confirmed twice during the performance: after both Christian’s speech and the later reading of his sister’s suicide note, there was total silence from the orchestra, the singers, everyone on stage and particularly the audience. Even the usual occasional coughing stopped completely.
The profound effect on the audience was maintained throughout the 90 minutes of Festen without an interval. Any such break would have broken the audience’s concentration and given them an undesirable chance to reset their emotions.
An excellent libretto from Lee Hall combined perfectly with the music, generally true to Thomas Vinterberg’s 1998 film but with a number of small changes which even enhanced the impact. The film was described as a black comedy, but was distinctly more black than comedy. By increasing the comedic element, Hall not only brought various elements up to date but added just the right amount of humour and colour to the blackness. There was even a small but significant change to the ending making it perhaps more in keeping with modern views.
On top of all this, the director Richard Jones brought out the very best of a magnificent cast. Gerald Finley was suitably oleaginous as Helge while Allan Clayton gave a brilliant performance as Christian, totally controlled in contrast to his brother Michael, vigorously and perfectly repulsively played by Stéphane Degout. Whether being shocked, pretending to themselves that nothing had happened, or dancing the conga, the entire large cast and chorus all deserve credit for their performance. The best comedy, however, came from John Tomlinson as the Grandpa who cannot quite remember the blue joke he is trying to tell. Now in his late 70s, Tomlinson is still clearly in command of his faculties and his fine voice and his performance provided much-needed relief.
Altogether a remarkable production and certainly one of the most memorable evenings I have ever spent in the theatre.
Festen is playing at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden until 27 February: rbo.org.uk or 020 7304 4000