VoxCarnyx

Theatre Royal, Glasgow

There’s a craftsmanship throughout Jonathan Dove’s operatic scores that is both cinematically detailed and musically invigorating. Marx in London!, written originally for its German premiere in 2018, and which Scottish Opera this week introduced to the UK, upholds these qualities. Just as importantly, it’s a rib-tickling night out.

In mounting the UK premiere, Scottish Opera has brought together the tried and tested creative partnership of Dove and stage director Stephen Barlow, both of whom gave Scotland a memorable production of Dove’s Flight in 2018. That was set in an airport. Marx in London! covers a day in the life of Karl Marx, set in his London home and playing to a side of Marx that was, if we are to believe it, more Groucho than Karl. 

It’s a madcap comedy centred on the accepted belief that the famous German political philosopher, while sternly didactic in his social theories, was an absolute catastrophe when it came to mundane domestic responsibilities. What’s more, Scottish Opera gave the green light to Barlow to create a brand new production, having adjudged the original Bonn production, which didn’t involve him, short of the mark. 

The result is exuberant, quirky, action-packed and wickedly ridiculing, hitting somewhere between Mozartian opera buffa and Springtime for Hitler. Marx is broke, bailiffs empty his house, he’s party to convoluted sexual entanglement involving his wife, the housekeeper and, it transpires, a son Freddy courtesy of the latter. 

Charles Hart’s libretto is bullet-like, Barlow’s direction is ceaselessly inventive, Yannis Thevoris’ playful designs bear an animated picture book charm, Kally Lloyd-Jones’ choreography bristles with irony – all embracing Dove’s music, which is vigorously minimalist in essence.

Not one of this cast fails to honour the challenge. Central to that is Marx himself, baritone Roland Wood’s portrayal ricocheting from one bumbling escapade to the next, comical with the merest hint of sage. He’s to some extent swamped by the people and events surrounding him: long-suffering wife Jenny (the passionately-voiced, ultimately Brünnhilde-like, Orla Boylan), flighty daughter Tussi (her vocal acrobatics sung fearlessly by coloratura Rebecca Bottone), enigmatic housekeeper Helene (the warm-hearted mezzo voice of Lucy Schaufer), the searching young Freddy (played engagingly by William Morgan), and a stoically forbearing Friedrich Engels (sung by tenor Alasdair Elliott).

A confection of characters sharpen the periphery, among them Jamie MacDougall’s prowling Prussian Spy and John Malloy’s indignant pawnbroker. The chorus add vocal girth to well-engineered high points. Conductor David Parry – another seasoned Dove collaborator – ensures the music’s cut and thrust does its vital job, realised by a Scottish Opera Orchestra in truly vibrant form.

It’s a show that knows exactly how to celebrate slapstick, satire and farce without veering towards the ridiculous. And guaranteed, you won’t take Marx seriously ever again.

[Photo credit: James Glossop]

Ken Walton 

Further performances in Glasgow (15 & 17 Feb); and in Edinburgh (22 & 24 Feb)