Elektra has arrived. Matthew Lutton’s wonderful opus, the shining glorious crown of Perth International Arts Festival, has opened… and how. This is opera at its most hardcore, it seems, a one act tour de force written by Richard Strauss and directed by Lutton, one of Australia’s most promising young directors. Elektra is not the easy gateway opera a novice might go searching out but rather the kind a committed lover will yield great reward from.
Haunted by the ghost of her dead father Agamemnon, Elektra plots a most macabre revenge. And as is the way with most of these tragedies, this revenge is vicious, cruel, sadistic and bloody. Of course Lutton implies a lot of this horror, thankfully, because when he does allow the macabre to stalk the stage, it sends chills down your spine.
Naturally, the plot is far too involved to give away in detail. There are instances of mistaken identities, of people convincing others to kill and all manners of perversion between. What can be commented on is Lutton’s showmanship. From the huge breadth of orchestra to the stark, dishevelled staging, Lutton has created a vision that is bold, stark, haunting and sublime. Naturally, it’s not a Lutton production unless there is some manner of liquid filling up the stage, and Elektra does not disappoint.
Of particular note is the appearance of James Berlyn as Agamemnon. Berlyn stalks the stage with hulking precision, his form black out so the stark whiteness of his eyes stuns you cold. Without uttering a word, Berlyn conveys all the horror and darkness of this opera… and then some.
Not for the weak willed, Elektra is a shining gem of sophisticated brilliance. This is opera as is it should be: forthright, unforgiving and challenging. The only recommendation for the staging would be to have the sur-titles run directly beneath the stage: they lost a sense of flow being in the wings and particularly cramped in such a small screen. Still, the majesty and might of this production is such that Elektra will leave you beguiled and begging for just a little bit more.
Elektra is at His Majesty’s Theatre on February 11 and 14
Scott-Patrick Mitchell
