The Stage

Troy Boy

Published Monday 14 February 2011 at 10:32 by Edward Bhesania

The punning title may have seemed a gift to Kit Hesketh-Harvey, who now directs his translation of Offenbach’s La belle Helene (a reworking of his 2006 version for English National Opera), but the centre of the show remains the frisky Helen (of Troy).

Marcin Gesla and Anthony Flaum in Troy Boy at Upstairs at the Gatehouse Photo: Polly Hancock

This is partly thanks to Rosalind Coad’s performance in the title-role - here a Middle England suburban housewife who is transported to the operetta’s ancient Greek setting by a dream after spying a handsome waiter at her local taverna. Coad oozes flirty confidence, but also captures the depth of her moral dilemma and of her genuine love for the dishy Paris. A flexible soprano with an instinct for drama, she could soon be high-profile. Christopher Diffey shows great charm and vocal stamina as Paris, while David Menezes sportingly plays the downtrodden, BlackBerry-besotted Menelaus.

Signalling where Helen’s dream begins and ends is the main flaw in the staging (especially given a pre-existing dream in the original operetta’s Act II), but in terms of comic appeal, Harvey delivers what you might hope for from one half of the cabaret duo Kit and Widow. The Greek gods’ game of charades becomes a name that tune quiz of popular classical themes - Ajax 2 is an amusing hand-puppet attached to Ajax 1, and Orestes (brilliantly played by Anthony Flaum) is a chick loving hip hop DJ.

The ‘orchestra’ of six instruments plus piano under Stephen Hose’s direction negotiates its way through Offenbach’s often frothy score with vim. With its talented and enthusiastic cast, this entertaining, intimate operatic venture deserves to do well on its ten-stop tour.