by Simon Stephens
seen at the Almeida Theatre on 2 May 2015
The play, directed by Michael Longhurst and designed by Lizzie Clachan with music by Simon Slater, dramatises the predicament of a Singer (Sharon Small) whose sense of self is unravelling as her commitments to sing the role of Carmen take her from place to place with no connection to the world outside taxis, briefly rented apartments, and the opera theatres of Europe. Four other characers in a particular unnamed city are also adrift in loneliness - a rent boy named Carmen (Jack Farthing), a female taxi driver Don José (Noma Dumezweni), a young student Micaëla (Katie West) and a futures trader Escamillo (John Light). Viktoria Vizin prowls the stage dressed as a conventional Carmen, singing snatches of the opera, or other lyrics, to the accompaniment of two cellists (Jamie Cameron and Harry Napier).
