Old Trouts Prove There’s Nothing They Can’t Do

Par Lori Montgomery

En Anglais seulement

After seeing the Old Trouts’ latest show, Ghost Opera, part of me wondered — what on earth took them so long to create an opera? Their previous shows (among them The Ice King and The Unlikely Birth of Istvan) are operatic in theme and scale, and in retrospect were crying out for a barrel-chested tenor. In typical Trouts fashion, this show throws the form into a cocktail mixer and shakes it up until it’s barely recognizable, but make no mistake — this is serious opera. 

From the first discordant, ominous opening notes (not really an overture), it is clear that the tone of this opera is as dark and twisty as any of their previous work, but the small orchestra to the side of the stage (Timepoint Ensemble) indicates immediately that this is a Trouts show you’ve never seen before. All but one of the puppets are life-sized representations of humans (and a dog), and they are reminiscent of Classical Greek statuary, albeit a bit more tortured. A fitting choice, given the theme of the show, which is drawn from one of the first ghost stories ever written down, as described by Pliny the Younger in the first century AD. 

Source: The YYSCENE