La bohème (2025)

Exeter, Plymouth and Dartmouth

Sponsored by Atkins Ferrie Wealth Management

Cast

Mimì ~ Oksana Lepska

Musetta ~ Catherine Hooper

Rodolfo ~ Martins Smaukstellis

Marcello ~ Sam Young

Schaunard ~ James Geidt

Colline ~ Phil Wilcox

Alcindoro ~ Benoît Stephen Holloway

Parpignol ~ Carolyn Harries

Rodolfo (Matinee) ~ Gareth Dafydd Morris

Marcello (Matinee) ~ Philip Smith

Signora Armillotta, Mimi (Matinee) ~ Victoria Armillotta

Signora Eleni, Musetta (Matinee) ~ Danae Eleni

Vagrant, Schaunard (Matinee) ~ Yuki Okuyama

Guard/Official, Colline (Matinee) ~ Ged Dovey

Figlio Armillotta ~ Elio Mazza-Janssen

Figlio Eleni ~ William Jackson

Figlia Eleni ~ Molly Jackson

Momus ~ Annabel MacKenny

Instrumental Ensemble

Piano ~ Pavel Timofeyevsky

Flute ~ Anna Kondrashina

Clarinet ~ Matthew Wilsher

Violin ~ Maja Horvat

Cello ~ Helena Švigelj

Music

Repetiteur (London) ~ Kelvin Lim

Repetiteur (Devon) ~ Caroline D’Cruz

Stage

Assistant to the Director ~ Annabel MacKenney

Stage Manager, Design, Costume ~ Lydia Sweet

Assistant to the Stage Manager ~ Debbie Irving

Costume (London) ~ Buffy Sharp

Costume Assistant/trainee ~ Sasha Cruft

Lighting and tech support ~ Sam Jones

Barnfield and tech support ~ Sonny Evans

Technical drawing, carpentry ~ Paul Spearing

Carpentry, set build ~ Ed Fry

Surtitles ~ Roderick Hunt

Surtitle operator ~ Lizzie Coldrick

Director

Anna Gregory

Music Director / Orchestral reduction

Pavel Timofeyevsky

Production

Licensed chaperone ~ Annabel MacKenny

Backstage crew ~ Debbie Irving

Piano hire ~ Hickies (Mark Werner)

Lighting hire ~ Showbitz

Composite floor ~ Showbitz

Photography ~ Leigh Farmer / Rockrose

Northcott advertising ~ Laura Van Wymersch

Facebook and Instagram ~ Olya Edwards

LocalIQ Newspapers ~ Kate Westlake

Devon Life Magazine ~ Catherine Courteney

Educational events ~ MIDI (Music in Devon Initiative)

Programme ~ Roderick Hunt

Review by Owen Davies, 18 May 2025

This excellent production of La bohème deservedly got a rapturous welcome from the audience at the Barnfield Theatre in Exeter. It demonstrates the huge value of the smaller local organisations like the admirable Devon Opera which bring scaled down versions of the classics to audiences that clearly have a thirst for great music-drama and top quality singing and may not easily be able to get to the opera houses in the big cities. Although there was evidently not a lot of money for sets and scenery, the creative ways found by director Anna Gregory of telling the story – and the high calibre of the young singers – made this a version that I enjoyed just as much as many I have seen at the big opera houses.

Rudolfo is one of four impecunious creatives living in a scruffy flat in Paris. One night he meets a neighbour, the frail Mimi, who is looking for a light for her candle and they fall instantly in love. Rudolfo introduces Mimi to his friends at the Cafe Momus, where his pal Marcello rekindles his romance with old flame, Musetta. Then, some weeks later, we find that Rudolfo has left the flat where he and Mimi live. He tells Marcello that he is pretending that it is jealousy that has driven him away when it is really the pain he feels at watching Mimi's health decline and being unable to afford to provide the care she needs. They are reconciled, but only briefly. In the final act, Musetta finds Mimi collapsed in the street and takes her back to the scruffy flat where she dies amongst her old friends.

As with many scaled back versions, Devon Opera provided a group of superb singing actors, an orchestra of five fine players and a small supporting cast - the Parisian streets around Cafe Momus were not exactly thronged, but the small chorus did a good job of conjuring up the bohemian life Puccini evokes in his marvellous score. The confrontation between Parpignol, the toy seller, and the mischievous kids was fun. But the real pleasure of this production was in the performances of the young singers. Martins Smaukstellis was a stunning Rudolfo with a lyrical Italianate tenor sound of formidable power and a moving characterisation of a young man deeply in love but without the emotional strength to cope with Mimi's illness. And Oksana Lepska was every bit a match for him dramatically and musically – the great Act 1 love duet was spellbinding.

It is worth saying too that the very first duet between Rudolfo and his pal Marcello, sung by the brilliant Sam Young, was so good that we knew that we could expect a performance of the highest standard; the early musical interactions between the 'bohemians' often seem like little more than atmosphere setting – not here. And Catherine Hooper as Musetta completed the leading quartet with style - less flirtatious than some of the breed but with a fine soprano voice and a nice line in annoying Marcello. There were enjoyable supporting performances from James Geidt, Phil Wilcox, Stephen Holloway and Carolyn Harries. The five musicians, led by music director Pavel Timofeyevsky, were seated at one side of the stage and, at the outset, the balance between singers and players meant that vocal sounds were overshadowed but that settled well by the end of Act 1.

The story was told simply and clearly, the right decision for scaled-back productions like this. Anna Gregory found ingenious ways to use the small stage, and the backdrop projection of a Parisian street scene struck the right note. I cannot end this review without complimenting Devon Opera for it ambition and for its determination to act as the launching pad for young singers - and for fostering a love for opera in new audiences. Their 'O' is for Opera campaign is exemplary.