The Mad Scene

[Interview] Steven Ang on Julius Caesar in Egypt by The Mad Scene

/ Isaac Tan / 2 Comments

Francis Wong (Hong Kong) as Ptolemy watches Steven Ang (Singapore) as Julius Caesar and Tatiana Konovalova (Russia) as Cleopatra

Having successfully staged Verdi’s Macbeth last year, The Mad Scene returns in September with Handel’s Julius Caesar in Egypt, directed by Hawk Liu. I spoke to producer and singer Steven Ang to find out about The Mad Scene’s sophomore production.

What is it about Julius Caesar in Egypt that led you to produce and perform in it?

After Macbeth, Hawk Liu and I were discussing what our next project could be. We both have a love for grand historical epics told in music, so this opera is a natural fit. This production covers Caesar’s campaign in Egypt amidst civil wars in both Rome and Egypt, and encapsulates the story in quite a stunning way, full of heroism and romance.

The music captures the emotional journeys of its six characters so well, in addition to being fiendishly virtuosic and laden with catchy ear-worms.

Ashley Chua (Singapore) as Sextus

What are some of the unique challenges in playing Caesar?

One of the biggest challenges of this production is adapting an 18th century piece for the contemporary stage. Shows back then would typically last up to five hours, with audience members entering and leaving the theatre at different times. Plot expositions were also more stylised and less propulsive by today’s standards. Hawk and I have adapted the plot and music in ways that give more dramatic impetus to the plot, while allowing the many favourite tunes that lovers of the opera know and love to be more dramatically engaging as well.

Another challenge is that, anatomically, the music is composed for a ‘castrato’ singer, a male singer who has had parts of his genitalia surgically removed to preserve the purity of a boy’s tone with the strength of a grown man. Suffice to say that, while I love the piece and role deeply as artist, I am really not willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for it!

Hence, the music has to be adapted for my deeper bass-baritone voice, which is common practice in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Low voices are rarely associated with florid music with fast running passages, so this adaptation is a great showcase for bass baritones!

Hugo Van Beever (Belgium) as Achillas

Were there any interesting discoveries in the process of rehearsing for the show?

It has often been said that it takes a village to put on a theatrical production. This production is a true global village, with four of our six main cast members from Japan, Belgium, Russia and Hong Kong, working together with Singaporean talents in the cast and creative team. Everyone has stepped up to help make this a truly wonderful experience.

We have learnt a lot of lessons from Macbeth last year and are applying them this time round. Francis Wong from Hong Kong has been instrumental in styling many of the looks that you see in the promos and onstage. Hawk’s artistic vision is astute and detail-oriented as always, and we are now able to incorporate better lighting, sets and backdrops to the mix. It’s been an interesting intellectual melting pot combining ancient history with period and contemporary performance practices. We hope to present a work that is faithful to its sources and enjoyable by modern theatre-goers.

One of the best things about this production is including the up-and-coming soprano Ashley Chua to play the boy role of Sesto. She is a truly fine singer of this repertoire on top of being a committed and accommodating actor at the same time. She sings a duet with Japanese-British mezzo Chieko Trevatt that will break your hearts and give you goosebumps all at the same time. I can’t wait for the audience to hear them perform it!

Chieko Trevatt (Japan/UK) as Cornelia

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[Interview] Director Hawk Liu on Creating an Abridged Version of Verdi’s Macbeth

/ Isaac Tan / 1 Comment

Steven Ang as Macbeth and Tatiana Konovalova as Lady Macbeth / Photo: Hawk Liu

Over the years, The Mad Scene has been reviewing operatic, musical theatre, and classical music performances. Spurred by the uncertainties of the COVID-19 pandemic, Steven Ang, founder of The Mad Scene, decided to seize the moment and produce an abridged version of Verdi’s Macbeth, an opera that he has longed to perform in for many years.

To realise his vision, he brought Hawk Liu on board to direct the show. I spoke to Liu to find out more about the show.

What is it about Verdi’s Macbeth that attracted you to direct it?

When Steven Ang approached me to direct the opera, I said yes immediately. It’s a delicious opera to direct with so much potential for drama, and my own temperament suits the intensity of expression that this opera demands. I wanted a visually driven drama piece that uses physical manifestations of the internal emotions of the characters. I told the cast that I wanted to audience to see what they feel and I think that is coming along nicely.

What are some of the difficulties in working on this adaptation?

For me, the difficulty in creating anything is to start from zero. It means I need to workshop quite a bit in order to see something stronger in my mind coming to life. But once I get going and have something to work with, I can build a lot more from there. That has been my experience in this production as well.

As I am a dancer, I wanted the singers to feel where the music is coming from in order to put the flow of the music into their movements. There is quite a bit of working with movements to get the visual effect I wanted, especially so when the music drives the drama so much. It can be a subtle thing but I think it can make a lot of difference in the visual and emotional experience.

There was also the issue of how to bring about a completeness of staging in an abridged opera. I had numerous discussions going back and forth with Steven Ang, the producer, about how we wanted the drama to play out given there will be no crowd scenes, etc.

I feel the main difficulty in a modest production like ours, is working with accompaniment tracks during rehearsals. Trying to start and stop the action is most trying for me without a pianist when the music drives the action so much.

Tatiana Konovalova as Lady Macbeth / Photo: Hawk Liu

Were there any interesting things that happened during rehearsals?

The curious thing about a production like this specific one is whether we see a lot of bad luck happening. Yes, we did. Our Lady Macbeth, Tatiana Konovalova, was stuck in Russia for many months as she could not get a vaccination to get herself back to Singapore. A member of our cast had a heart problem and had to go for an operation. We wondered whether we had to hunt for a replacement, but thankfully, he’s still with us. In the props department, we ordered some swords and we sparred too hard and one of them broke into two pieces!

Our original Witch (yes, just one!) had to leave the production due to her own professional commitments, but we found a replacement – yourself, Isaac, a male actor. I was quite excited about the prospects of turning a witch’s role to a male one and after doing a few hours’ experiment, I think we got it!

If you are only given three words to describe the production, what would it be?

See for yourselves!

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Macbeth will be performed on Saturday, 23 April 2022, at Goodman Arts Centre Black Box.

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