Amadeus Upper School Play
A s early as 1792, the newspapers of Vienna were printing stories that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had been murdered, perhaps by a rival. What makes this Mozartian myth so fascinating is the true fact that in later life, whilst in the care of an asylum, Antonio Salieri claimed to have murdered Mozart. By this time he was old, mad and tormented by the knowledge that his music was no longer played or appreciated. Shaffer’s tale of Salieri’s final years is therefore a compelling one. In this production, the central performances of Joseph Taylor (Salieri) and George Chambers (Mozart) were outstanding, and special mention must be made of Joe, who was on stage throughout and who maintained a remarkable intensity. His portrayal of the tortured Salieri created a convincing picture of an unstable man in old age, together with a depiction of a much younger and authoritative professional musician who could well have been the ‘most famous composer in Europe’. George Chambers’ Mozart was also charismatic, a bundle of nervous energy, who, by turns, was infuriating, frustrating and brilliant – in fact, much as we imagine Mozart to have been. Both of these roles were ably supported by the rest of the
cast, whose contribution was no less effective, and crucial to the storyline of Shaffer’s plot. Joseph II (Tom Hammond) was a suitably imperious and capricious musical dilettante; Baron Van Swieten (Ed McNamara), whilst clearly an admirer of Mozart, was scholarly and boring; Constanze Mozart (Lily Barber) was vivacious and attractive, but also shrewd; and Count Orsini-Rosenberg (James Campbell-Warner) provided a Machiavellian undercurrent to the play. In short, a complex web of human relationships was ably demonstrated by the cast. The staging of the play was very imaginative, conveying (through a series of picture frames) the different perspectives of the characters. Clever lighting (with candles much to the fore) gave a sense of both mystery and grandeur, and also created an impression of a much greater space than was actually the case. For all those present this was a wonderful evening – our thanks and congratulations to Peter Jolly and all the staff of the Edward Alleyn Theatre.
DR JOHN CARNELLY
62
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker