Review: Ellen Kent: The Farewell Tour – Madama Butterfly at Sunderland Empire

“…Elena Dee’s portrayal of Butterfly was equally pity-inducing and mesmerising…”

Madama Butterfly composed by Giacomo Puccini, featuring a libretto written by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica, Sunderland Empire

By Lauren Powell

Well, well, well… talk about life imitating art. Who knew that the kind of things you might read about in the certain well-known files in the news at the moment are the stuff operas are made of? An American jerk uses his money and influence to take advantage of a beautiful Japanese child and, once he has had his fun, he abandons her to life in shame and infamy. He returns after many years, with his new wife in tow, to talk to the audience about how bad he feels.

If my plot summary is making you want to boo him, don’t worry, the audience and I beat you to it during the enthusiastic applause at the end. Oleksii Srebnytski, as B. F. Pinkerton, was so good at being loathsome, I have never seen an anti-standing ovation before. If the seats were not so tight, I imagine people would have lain down on the floor to show their displeasure at the character. This is possibly because Elena Dee’s portrayal of Butterfly was equally pity-inducing and mesmerising by turns. How could you not pity her and hate him?

The lighting and the set were classic, very straightforward and they emitted a vibe rather like a watercolour painting. I particularly enjoyed the use of silhouettes to change the focus of the drama. Using live water on the stage was also an interesting choice; it was audible all the way up in the circle and was really rather atmospheric. I also particularly enjoyed the generous size of the cast. No one did double shifts as another character and that made it feel very “real”, even though the cast were acting mostly as Japanese people and singing in Italian.

Whilst this was a super production, be warned, much of Madama Butterfly is very slow. If social media has destroyed your attention span, you may well find that an evening in the company of Madame Butterfly taxes you. I think this reflects the time it was written by Puccini; a time when audiences would want a scene to be drawn out so they could savour every moment of it. This is a production, then, for people who already know that they love opera. It’s subtle and graceful, but a first-timer might find it a little long-winded.

I was lucky to see this when I did, as it is part of producer Ellen Kent’s farewell tour, featuring Opera International Kyiv, Ukraine. At the end of the show, after we had all booed ourselves out at poor Oleksii, the cast unfurled a Ukrainian flag and sang the national anthem. That was very moving, and the kind of little treat that you only get at special moments. It’s good to be reminded that the war and the suffering are still ongoing. We must not forget the human cost of this conflict. Slava Ukraini!  

This version of Madama Butterfly then had a very traditional feel to it – from the large cast, many of whom were only on the stage for a short time, to the classic sets. It felt like the production was from another time just as much as the plot being set in another era. This Madama Butterfly is slow, sad and yet exquisitely beautiful.

Madama Butterfly plays at Sunderland Empire on Monday 23 March.

Lauren Powell is a recovering academic from the North East of England. Currently residing in South Shields with her partner and two malevolent gerbils. Lauren is a short form writer who writes fiction as well as reviews. She has loved the theatre since childhood, and many years ago volunteered back stage with an amateur group, Stage Focus.  From one man readings to musical and beyond, Lauren can not get enough! You can find her on Twitter/X here.