Don Pasquale revival: 19th-century comic opera gets first-rate plastic surgery uplift

Pavilion Theatre, Dún Laoghaire: touring February 2–11, see below

Ben McAteer and Graeme Danby in the touring Irish National Opera production of Don Pasquale. Photo by Emilija Jefremova

Katy Hayes

We know we are in excellent hands from the off: Donizetti’s mischievous overture is accompanied by a wonderful mime drama in the reception area of Dr Malatesta’s busy plastic surgery. The music may be from 1842 but the sensibility is right now.

Don Pasquale, a rich and childless man, disinherits his nephew Ernesto. He doesn’t like the young man’s choice of bride, Norina, who is a feisty young widow, and not at the modest end of the femininity spectrum. Pasquale, aged 70, decides to get married himself to produce an heir. He attends Dr Malatesta to get a facelift and a giant box of Viagra.