Reviews of Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali, Wexford Festival Opera 2024
Orpha Phelan’s brilliantly inventive new production, graced with a golden cast, has the whole house rocking with laughter from start to finish. It's a wonderful performance.
★★★★★ Stephen Pritchard, The Guardian Read more
Donizetti triumphs, with help from Bernstein, Rossini, two stars and director Orpha Phelan (who also offered up the most imaginative show of 2022, a production which lifted the modest charms of David’s Lalla-Roukh). Phelan has not only taken the justifiable liberty of making Act Two, about which the Donizetti Critical Edition is far from clear, a semi-contemporary pasticcio of numbers by other composers, but avoids the pitfalls of repeating gags with constant ingenuity. Nothing in my brief Wexford experience, has soared as high in every department as a very special “performing version” of Donizetti's Le Convenienze ed Inconvenienze Teatrali.
★★★★★ David Nice, The Arts Desk Read more
Superb and joyful. No opening for possible parody is ignored. Audience joy is unconfined. Unfortunately, I ran out of stars at five.
★★★★★ George Hall, The Stage Read more
A pure masterpiece of comedy was the entire production by director Orpha Phelan, collaborating with designer Madeleine Boyd and choreographer Amy Share-Kissiov. The hit of the festival.
★★★★★ Gramophone.co.uk Read more
I had no idea that I was about to experience not merely quite the funniest opera I have ever seen, but a viable candidate for the funniest thing I have ever seen. It was up there with the 1992 film of Michael Frayn’s play of a decade earlier, ‘Noises off’, at which I laughed so hard it hurt.... Initial plaudits must go to the director, Orpha Phelan, for crafting such an excellent production from the Critical Edition, with research which included going directly to its author Roger Parker for advice. Armed with his blessing to be creative and with a few special tweaks, she has fashioned an absolute masterpiece
Donal Hurley, Edinburgh Music Review Read more
The production is gag-rich - where else would you see a singer get wrapped in plastic and carried off prone and shoulder-high? Under Orpha Phelan’s lively direction and in Madeleine Boyd’s consistently amusing costumes, Paolo Bordogna exceeds every and any expectation, and carries all the challenges off with a wonderful sense of do-or-die.
★★★★ Michael Dervan, The Irish Times Read more
In the absence of a definitive version, difficulties are resolved by director Orpha Phelan in Wexford Festival Opera’s chaotic production by an “if you can’t beat them, join them” approach. Phelan leans into the chaos by tossing a veritable kitchen sink of busyness onto Donizetti’s comic opera creating a visual wildfire… a whirling dervish of visual distraction … Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali proves wondrously entertaining.
★★★★ Chris O’Rourke, The Arts Review Read more
A riotously funny opera in a highly creative production, justly brought down the house. Director Orpha Phelan constructs her own “Wexford Version” with pieces from Bernstein and Rossini inserted into the score resulting in a… unique experience. Phelan’s decision to expand the role of the impresario is a sound one giving the opera an added dramatic focus while her change of role for The Tenor is inspired. Superlative singing, hilarious antics and an energetic production make Donizetti's Le convenienze ed inconvenienze an exhilarating success.
★★★★ Andrew Larkin, Bachtrack Read more
An outstanding new production - outrageously funny and featured some of the best singing, dancing and playing I have heard in years.
The success of this production is in large part due to the work of the director, Orpha Phelan. There is no definitive score for this work and Phelan had to do some preparatory investigative work to come up with a suitable score. In accordance with authentic 19th century tradition, she has incorporated music not written by the composer himself. Phelan clearly encouraged the performers to have fun and ad lib with the material and they certainly did not hold back. She also included energised dance routines to enliven Donizetti’s glittering ensemble numbers. As the events in the opera careered out of control, it was impossible not to get swept up in the outrageous comedy and ebullient energy of the production.
Robert Beattie, Seen and Heard International Read more
Orpha Phelan captures the comedy with a sharp, pacy staging. It was brilliant! The audience was doubled up with laughter from the opening of the first act to the end of the opera’s final scene. Her focus was unambiguously centered on the comedy. Every scene, every action was played for laughs; no opportunity was missed. The last opera I saw that had people laughing so much was Donizetti’s “Don Pasquale,” which also happened to be directed by Orpha Phelan.
Alan Neilson, OperaWire Read more
In the determined hands of Orpha Phelan, an Irish director with the sharpest eye for the absurd I can recall, this mother lode of comedy was mined, its veins ruthlessly exploited, and sands sifted for every last nuance until the audience laughed itself to exhaustion and a rapturous series of curtain calls.
“You had to be there”, is the resort of scoundrel critics unable to capture the complete impact of a performance in words. And I hide behind it. Indescribable.
Gerald Malone, Reaction Read more