Review

Porgy and Bess review, English National Opera, London Coliseum: knock-out choruses but a hollow core

Eric Greene as Porgy and Nicole Cabell as Bess in  English National Opera's production of George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess 
Eric Greene as Porgy and Nicole Cabell as Bess in English National Opera's production of George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess  Credit: Robbie Jack#Corbis/Corbis Entertainment

George Gershwin’s only opera finally comes to ENO, in a lavish co-production with the all-black cast that its creators stipulated. It pleases the eye, and delivers knock-out choruses, sassy orchestral playing under conductor John Wilson, and heart-warming renditions of the big melodies such as “Summertime”. So a hit is pretty well guaranteed.

But it doesn’t overcome the problems of the piece, which has had a chequered history ever since its 1935 premiere. Even by the late Thirties, it was being boycotted by black performers, on the grounds that it offered an inauthentic, folksy, white-man’s vision of poor African-American life. Aside from that inauthenticity, there are also problems of dramatic pacing. The second act especially often sags, and plot turns seem to come out of nowhere.

This production seems determined not to face those issues. Everything is bright and cheerful and picturesque. Catfish Row, the cluster of tenement buildings where the poor fisherfolk live, is portrayed as a hollow timber-framed assemblage of rooms and staircases. It’s theatrically convenient – we can see babies being nursed and sheets being folded – but implausibly clean and neat, as are the sailors gathered in the opening game of craps. To show how true the production is being to the original, the surtitles show the original, cringeworthy text (“Lawd, I’m going to hebben!”) – which is particularly unfortunate, as the singers wisely tone the folksiness down.

The main problem with the production is a hollowness at the centre. Granted, it’s difficult to bring alive such a weak-willed creature as Bess, but she should at least relish her destructive appetites for drugs and sex, and Nicole Cabell isn’t characterful enough vocally or theatrically to bring that off. There’s no real chemistry in her encounters with Porgy, played by Eric Greene, who has a commanding presence but seems vocally under strain – as does Frederick Ballentine, who is somewhat bland as dope-peddler Sporting Life. Of the major characters, only Nmon Ford as Bess’s violent lover Crown has the necessary vocal heft and stage presence, and his ability to cow the entire community during the storm scene arouses a genuine thrill of terror.

Crowne aside, the best moments come from the minor characters. Nadine Benjamin as Clara gives a beautifully tender, sultry rendition of Summertime, and Tichina Vaughn offers some much-needed comic relief as the doughty cook-shop keeper Maria. Best of all is Latonia Moore as Serena. Her heart-rending rendition of “My man’s gone” as she makes her grief-stricken way down the tenement steps, the chorus in keening support, provides a rare moment of emotional truth.  

Until Nov 17. Tickets: 0844 871 2118; tickets.telegraph.co.uk 

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