A TENDER OPERATIC PORTRAYAL OF A TROUBLED AND TYRANNICAL POET

By Francesca Killoran | Francesca Killoran ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Press Invite

I went into this opera knowing very little about Paul Verlaine. I studied him for just a week as part of an Undergraduate module on French Symbolist poetry and had seen the spectacularly terrible 1995 film Total Eclipse (David Thewlis plays Verlaine against a young Leonardo DiCaprio as Arthur Rimbaud). 555: Verlaine En Prison, directed by Eleanor Burke, was a beautiful and informative account of the troubled poet’s life. Verlaine was phenomenally portrayed by Logan Lopez Gonzalez. You do not need to be a fan of either opera or French poetry to be completely mesmerised by the power of the voices of both performers. A lot of the lyrics are Verlaine’s own words, which are strikingly brought to life by both Lopez Gonzalez and Anna Sidaris, and accompanied by the skilful piano of Stella Marie Lorenz.

This performance of 555: Verlaine En Prison is part of the seventeenth annual Grimeborn Opera Festival, which champions radical opera. It is also part of the Seats For Seeds initiative where Green Opera plants a tree for every ticket sold. So, while you are enjoying a quality night out supporting the arts, you are also saving the planet. Despite my dedication to my Duolingo streak, my French skills are far from fluent. However, as the show has subtitles (where the English translation is projected onto a screen above the performers’ heads), it is easy to follow what is being said and sung throughout the show. If you are in any way interested in attending opera, this hour-long performance is a brilliant introduction to the art form. It is accessible and engaging.

555: Verlaine En Prison jumps back and forth across the 1870s with the date flashing upon the subtitle. It opens with Arthur Rimbaud (Anna Sideris) describing to the court how Verlaine (Logan Lopez Gonzalez) had shot his hand during an alcohol induced altercation. Although Rimbaud made it clear that he was not pressing charges, the court condemned Verlaine to prison for the maximum sentence of 555 days. Sideris plays the part of both the teenaged ‘Enfant Terrible’ and Verlaine’s abused wife, Mathilde Mauté. Aligning the two love interests, and the two victims, is an effective casting decision. Gender bending the role of Rimbaud obscures the argument that Verlaine’s severe punishment was due to the court’s homophobia. The emphasis is instead put on the violence of Verlaine’s actions. The writers, Logan Lopez Gonzalez and Eleanor Burke, do not shy away from describing Verlaine’s violent tendencies. Sideris tells the audience about times when Verlaine attempted to set his wife’s hair on fire and stab her. The violence is only described, never portrayed.

Each of the performers wear the same simple uniform of a white shirt and black trousers. Sideris leaves her hair down when she is embodying Mathilde, and ties it back as Rimbaud. Lopez Gonzalez’s button-down shirt becomes more dirtied and unbuttoned as he descends further into alcoholism and absinthe abuse. The exposed brick of the Arcola theatre provides a blank canvas for the stage to transform from court to a locked hotel room and finally a prison cell. Cheng Keng’s lighting design is used to skilfully transform the setting and the atmosphere. When it feels that all hope is lost, Verlaine stands with the striped shadows of prison bars shining on his face. When he finds Catholicism and the Catechism of Perseverance as written by Gaume, the light turns golden.

Verlaine’s belief in the musicality of poetry means that his lines have a distinctly lyrical quality. However, Burke and Lopez Gonzalez have created something tender and radical as they beautifully tell a tale of horror and art in Verlaine’s own words.

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Photo Credit: Simon Van Rompay