REVIEW: Poppea (IN Series)
IN Series always has me thinking about the development of the American musical. Monteverdi’s Poppea, their latest offering, premiered a clean 400 years before Oklahoma! opened on Broadway; we as humans have always been performing dramas with songs. But even despite the integrated athleticism that has come to dominate the musical as we know it, traditional operas still have their place. This iteration of Poppea proves this with a creative rendition that impresses on several fronts, primarily via its percussive staging and extraordinary performances.
Book/Music
Poppea is a unique for several reasons. For starters, it is one of the first operas to unflinchingly use real people and history for inspiration (though not the first drama at all). Additionally, it places the focus, attention, and ultimately victory upon an adulteress. The titular woman is introduced as a homewrecker who successfully lures the Roman emperor Nero from his faithful wife Ottavia, and the plot follows the fallout and how it impacts the spiritual and political landscape of Rome. Supporting characters and side-tracked romances are effective vehicles for this, ranging from the lowly pageboys and nurses to noble philosophers, and their storylines weave together and end at a seemingly-neat and tidy ending. Musically, it’s diverse and succinct — despite repetitive lyrics —assisted by director Timothy Nelson’s choice of weaving the piece with the lore and aesthetics of South India. The usually-great IN Series house band has been elevated to exciting new heights via these orchestrations, that paint a colorful audio background for the performers. 8/10
Acting
There’s quite the set of pipes on these folks. Firstly, Aryssa Leigh Burrs is a commanding Emperor Nero, a sheer force of masculine carelessness that serves as a superb compliment to the airier Caitlin Wood in the title role. I was additionally impressed by the falsettoed passion in Elijah McCormack’s turn as the Pageboy/Love and Dawna Rae-Warren’s excitable Drusilia. However, the biggest wallop of emotionality and vocal force must belong to the Ottavia put on by Maribeth Diggle, an iceberg of talent breaking from shelves of cold-hearted abandonment. 8/10
Production
The space is semi-immersive. Walking in, the audience is greeted with a feaux-grass aisle evocative of a wedding, ending in a warmly decorated altar that’s flush with plush. The performers sometimes wade in between the seating aisles, an exciting development, but the highlight of Nelson’s vision is Hari Krishnan’s cacophonous South Indian dancing, putting excellent use of the hollow stage by treating it as an instrument all its own. 8/10
Viz
I’m a big fan of the exaggerated portraits that IN Series has been using to promote their pieces this season. They’re abstract and eye-catching, and contain a healthy amount of emotional intrigue that can easily implore the viewer while still giving them enough to surmise a premise; a gift given the often complex nature of them in opera. IN Series also likes to stage things in unorthodox spaces just as much as it does in traditional theatres; this time, the audience is brought to Dupont Underground, a performance and art space in a once-abandoned tunnel for interurban trolleys up and down Connecticut Ave. I had concerns acoustically at first, but by the midpoint of Act I my biggest issue was the metal chair seating, and not the sound. This space is colorfully graffiti’d the entire length up until the very end, which serves as a black box (of sorts). These arrays of blocky hues coordinate wonderfully with the warm, jangly beads of the South Indian aesthetic; I am curious how they will match this vibe in their upcoming runs in Baltimore and back in DC (at St. Mark’s). 9/10
Verdict
Poppea concludes IN Series’ Monteverdi trilogy with a spiced and rapturous flair, showcasing powerhouse performances that make a three-hours-plus runtime tolerable. 33/40
