The Magic Flute needs a fairy godmother

What: The Magic Flute with English National Opera Where: London Coliseum, WC2 When: Until 7 Dec 2013 Price: Various

In this fairy tale, Prince Tamino is sent to rescue his love Pamina, daughter of the Queen of the Night. When he finds and frees her, he discovers that her captor, Sarastro, is actually the good guy and decides to be initiated into his order. Meanwhile Tamino’s companion, the bird-catcher Papageno, has given up on initiation and simply wants someone to love. The power of music; the magic flute and the enchanting bells, helps them both to succeed. ‘Magic’ is the key word in Mozart’s Magic Flute, and without it the plot makes little sense. But magic is what is missing in this otherwise exciting production. Instead, we are treated to a different sort of magic – that of stage-craft. Simon McBurney has chosen to present his Magic Flute in black and white; a dark space, the action lit with bright white lights. Everyone is dressed in similarly bland colours with the occasional dull green or brown thrown in. Indeed, the only two characters of any colour at all, and only two with which we establish a real connection, are Papageno and Papagena. The rest come across as lifeless, and so despite their trials, by the end one hardly feels as if anything has happened at all. The first act seems to set up a dichotomy between the irrational, magical world of the night, and Sarastro’s rational world of knowledge inhabited by men and women in suits. It’s ambiguous which of the two worlds we should prefer, and disappointingly the idea seems to disappear without any synthesis or resolution. Many such interesting ideas are thrown about without developing or cohering. Again, by the end one wonders whether anything has happened at all. The orchestra plays very well under young conductor Gergely Madaras, if a little monochromatic – but I suppose this is a theme here. The singers too seem restrained and underwhelming, particularly Götz’s Queen of the Night whose entrance is a whimper and whose famous coloratura leaps are a little shaky. Again only the Papageno pair really characterise their parts and leave us with an impression of humanity, while Creswell’s Sarastro is full and imposing and Galliford’s Monostatos is amusingly creepy. McBurney’s theatrical displays are enough to provide a full evening’s entertainment. I won’t give away his tricks, but there are a few grand moments of illusion in a generally impressive and unique staging. Clever use is made of video projections which blend onto the set and interact with the characters. Another nice touch is the use of a live Foley to create the sound effects, even if the presence on stage is distracting and unnecessary – a gimmick perhaps. There is humour too in this production, particularly when the fourth wall is broken, and the interactions with the orchestra are worth a chuckle. As fantastic and entertaining as the performance may be, in the end we leave the theatre left with little. The amusement and wizardry on display are not enough, perhaps even detrimental, to a real experience of Schikaneder and Mozart’s rich cast of characters, magic and music. The admittedly frequent theatrical spectacles are bright sparks but the tinder doesn’t succeed in catching fire.