Opera and sex in Une éducation manquée

Opera is often dismissed as elitist and with Covent Garden’s exorbitantly priced tickets in mind it’s not hard to see why. But there was absolutely nothing elitist about Une éducation manquée, Emmanuel Chabrier’s one act operetta, performed at the Arcola Theatre. Set in 18^th century France, the story revolves around two young newly-wed aristocrats, who unfortunately haven’t a clue about what should happen on their wedding night. The delightful tale involves drinking songs and opportunely timed lightning bolts among the sexcapades, ending with a worldly education shall we say.

Part of the Arcola Theatre’s Grimeborn festival, Une éducation manquée was produced by Pop-up Opera, a touring operatic company which aims to make the genre more engaging and intimate. So if you arrived expecting La Scala-scale scenery, stage and orchestra you would be disappointed. But the piano and cosy performance were good fun and the singers excellent, with Susanna Fairbairn as the innocent groom Gontran, Christine Buras as the equally innocent bride Helene, and Oskar McCarthy as the inebriated tutor Pausanias.

But at times the production did seem to get a bit carried away with itself. The surtitles took great liberties with the libretto (at least as far as my dodgy French could work out) which was amusing at first but eventually became frustrating when you wanted to know what was being said, or rather, sung. But the occasional emoji and use of text-speak did provide an entertaining contrast to the usual weighty lines, and the in-jokes surrounding ‘hymen’ cleverly took the piss out of operatic convention. While acknowledging that pianist and musical director William Cole played flawlessly, at the end of the day a piano can’t compete with the richness of a full orchestra.

Pop-up Opera’s Une éducation manquée might not threaten the Royal Opera House, but for those new to the genre or who simply want something more light-hearted than Othello it makes a good alternative.