MASTER CLASS review. Director: Magdalene Minnaar. Cast: Sandra Prinsloo, Alida Scheepers, Brittany Smith, Tylor Lamani and José Dias. Theatre on the Bay.
Reviewed by BEVERLEY BROMMERT
An extraordinary woman, inspiring an extraordinary performance in an extraordinary play … Sandra Prinsloo impersonates Maria Callas with passion and intelligence in Master Class, Terrence McNally’s witty, poignant and engrossing drama.
Secondary characters serve to elicit La Divina’s reactions towards life, love, and above all commitment to perfection in the service of the performing art central to her identity as, having retired from the stage, she promotes opera through mentorship.
One would expect a strong emotional response to such material, but the audience is left oddly detached until the sudden intensity of the dénouement. This is largely due to the antipathetic nature of both central character and secondary personae. With the exception of Manny Weinstock, a patient, self-deprecating pianist who accompanies the vocalists of Master Class, all the cast evince some measure of arrogance, even down to the none-too-subservient stage hand; in the case of Callas, this is carried to titanic extremes.
The unhappy recipients of her mentorship are similarly possessed of arrogance, but their’s is born of inexperience and self-delusion. La Divina’s is rooted in the knowledge that through self-sacrifice she has maximised her unique talent to achieve universal acclaim.
Professional execution of magnificent solos
Three of Cape Town Opera’s finest young singers portray the participants in Callas’ master class. Alida Scheepers plays the eager-to-please, naive soprano adapting painfully to Callas’ haughty tutoring; Brittany Smith is self-assurance personified, proof against her mentor’s waspish critiques. Then there is tenor Tylor Lamani, cheerily imperturbable in his dismissive reception of La Divina’s comments before he launches into an impressive aria which even she cannot criticise.
Each singer is well cast and equal to the dramatic demands of his or her role. Best of all for lovers of opera is their professional execution of magnificent solos from a diverse repertoire. The wry humour José Dias brings to the character of Weinstock, together with his proficiency as a répétiteur, makes his continuous presence on stage a welcome antidote to the ego-ridden toxicity of Master Class’s ambience.
A significant element enhancing this production is the judicious use of video design as black-and-white images of Callas in her heyday flash by behind Prinsloo, herself in almost monochromatic attire. This is a collaboration between Kirsti Cumming and Magdalene Minnaar, the latter showing her mettle as a skilled director not only of opera, but also drama.
With a lead of Prinsloo’s calibre to anchor the production, Master Class is hard to fault.
What: Master Class
Where and when: Theatre on the Bay from 20 February to 11 March 2023 | Pieter Toerien’s Theatre at Montecasino in Johannesburg from 15 March to 2 April 2023
Tickets: Webtickets
WS
Picture credits: Annène van Eeden and Joan Ward
