Review: The Magic Flute - Impempe Yomlingo (S'pore Arts Fest 2009)

Synopsis: A young traveller, Tamino, fell in love with the daughter of the Queen of the Night, Pamino, who was kidnapped by an evil man. The Queen presented Tamino with a Magic Flute to aid him in his quest to rescue the young lady. Through a journey of trials and tribulations, the characters discover humility, compassion and tolerance.

Rearranged, restaged and revived from Mozart's 1791 The Magic Flute, this South African musical is totally un-high brow, and completely accessible, fun and an absolute delight to watch. The performers, who were all not mic-ed up, were powerful vocalists in their own right. They doubled up as singers and musicians, at times playing exuberantly on the marimabas, at times belting out the operatic tunes with heartfelt emotions.

I went because I was curious to see how Mozart's opera would be restaged. And it was quite an eye-opener to see how African music could be integrated with the operatic melodies. I also really enjoyed watching the performers' sheer sense of fun on stage. In fact, the accessibility of this production made me want to find out even more about the original opera. 

Just 1 tiny gripe... when I arrived at the Victoria Theatre, I saw hordes of secondary school children. I was initially stunned and wondered if I had arrived at the wrong venue. While it was really commendable to be able to sell tickets by loads to so many school kids, and indeed it was extremely good for the kids to be exposed to the productions, I had not been in the company of so many children since my school days. It was... to put it mildly, rather traumatising for me that night. Adding to that, a SO of one of the ministers decided to sit right next to me. His cologne irritated my nose so much I almost couldn't stop sneezing. And oh, I HATE the seats at VT... they're so old, every time I just moved my body very slightly, it creaked very loudly. Damn embarrassing.