The Nightingale and The Rose personal reflection

I find it difficult to begin a reflective piece like this. There was a lot going on throughout the show it proved difficult to focus specifically on one aspect. This Oscar Wilde short story turned opera encapsulated me with its elegant musical score by John O’Brien. I felt a greater connection with the orchestra members through their personification of various animals. My favorite being Emma King who resonated with me as a fellow percussionist who added sublime touches to scenes.

Movement wise I (much like the rest of the ensemble) reveled to see the movements we’ve practiced in class and in that moment I felt that the beautiful movements and choreography on stage is the end result of what Eadaoin and Jools are teaching us so in a way it explained the confusion to what the meaning behind many of the exercises were.

With Eadaoin being associate director I could suspect an instance of her ensemble focused style with the audience participation in one of the Sun’s scenes resonated with me, almost as if an element of Jool’ vocal exercises collaborates with the audience in a short and sweet vocal piece that unified everyone in the theatre succinctly.

Visually just about every aspect of the opera was worked in wonderful detail from the costumes, canvases and even the placements of the instruments on the stage before it started. A particular scene I sat in awe at was rather simple in theory but so beautifully executed. The Quintet (affectionately known as the “Special Branch”)  splash water onto what seems to be a blank canvas to then be revealed elegant floral designs. I believe it was the simplicity of this that impressed me most as it was visually pleasing and ex-positioned the plot swiftly.

Anyone could see that the cast had chemistry on stage and felt comfortable around one another which really drives home the point of ensembleness Eadaoin has us going through and it sets the bar for what we have to reach by the end of our careers.

This production clearly shows that passion and immense hard work went into it as shown through well timed movement of throwing things to each other, moving throughout the set and even in production mentioned in the post show discussion. It makes this show not only a theatrical sense but a success for the arts in my opinion and would feel the open mindedness of people are the key to its success.