A crowd-splitting opera for an issue heavy age.
The Lion's Face is a striking opera that lacks a plot but holds up a compelling portrait of the effects of Alzeihmer's disease. John Fulljames' production looks at memory loss, regression into childhood, a clouded memory and most affectively, the fear and frustration patients experience.
We half expect to, half want to see a loving family come together to support their ailing father as doctors struggle in earnest to learn more about his incurable illness. Instead we are presented with a colder, more realistic image of a wife desperately trying to convince her sons to turn up for their father's birthday. Mr D doesn't realise it's his birthday and there's no telling how he'll react when a group of people show up with balloons, presents and cake. The unpredictable nature of Alzeihmers translates naturally into this unpredictable opera.
But opera isn't simply a script sung; it's driven by an emotional need from the characters to deliver their lines with the heightened drama of a libretto. In an opera with very little drama, only occasionally does the singing stir an emotion and more often it's Dave Hill spoken lines conveying Mr D's perception of events that gives the opera a beautiful element of heartbreak. As he once again fails to recognise his own wife, he explains "no one who comes here ever comes again".
The show is also remarkable in it's character exploration. Dave Hill's portrayal of a waning, kind man comes through brilliantly though his character is slowly being shut down, and becomes increasingly unable to express his kindness without confusing and frightening people. The dutiful Mrs D, played by the excellent Elizabeth Sikora, wrestles with how she feels and how she should feel. Continuously hurt as her husband's memory of her fades and he rambles relentlessly about a gift he gave to a someone important, someone she knows wasn't her. Another notable performance is delivered by Benedict Nelson as the frustrated clinician trying to learn more about an illness we know surprisingly little about.
Disappointingly the music, though utilising some clever percussion devices, only really provides a decent backdrop. Though at times The Lion's Face is moving, I can't help feeling that in it's simplicity it failed to acknowledge the different ways Alzeihmers patients experience dementia.
The Lion's Face runs at Linbury Studio until 29th July 2010
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