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A new dramatised Messiah purges the Christianity
Story by Ivan Hewett • 9h ago
Danielle de Niese in Handel's Messiah: The Live Experience - Craig Fuller© Craig Fuller
Handel’s Messiah: The Live Experience, Theatre Royal Drury Lane ★★★☆☆
At first glance this could have been a “normal” performance of the world’s most popular oratorio, apart from the fact that it was taking place in the gilded splendour of a
West End theatre. Packed onto the stage was the English Chamber Orchestra, and behind them rising up in serried ranks was the
London Symphony Chorus, all in black.
But as the lights came down and the urgent, darkly serious overture began,
normality disappeared. A tall screen placed squarely centre stage glowed with an image of a burning sun, soon obscured by threatening black asteroids, while three dancers flitted down the aisles. Normalcy seemed to return when tenor
Nicky Spence appeared on the narrow strip of bare stage at the front to sing the beautifully consoling aria “Comfort Ye”. But
the dancers soon reappeared, followed by two actors (Martina Laird and
Arthur Darvill) dressed
like refugees from a militaristic dystopia. Between the musical numbers they conversed in a poetic dialogue which suggested they were mother and child, separated by a malign fate.
This dramatised version of the Messiah was the brainchild of Classical Everywhere, dedicated to creating classical “experiences, not concerts” as its founder and the evening’s conductor Gregory Batsleer puts it. Working with him on this show was a whole army of video and lighting technicians, a choreographer, and a spoken-word poet (P Burton-Morgan), all brought together by Immersive Everywhere, the team behind hit immersive theatre shows such as
Peaky Blinders: The Rise.
You might think a multimedia enhancing of the Messiah would clarify the work’s religious narrative, but
the creators chose to avoid the Christian specifics and instead teased out their underlying themes. The dancers acted out little scenes of struggle, oppression and joyful release, strikingly choreographed by Tom Jackson Greaves, that
you could just about link to the Biblical narrative of Christ’s sacrifice and miraculous resurrection. And it became clear that Christ’s relationship to his mother was being evoked by those dystopian figures.