A Reflection of Otman

On guard duty at The Berber Shop in Loughborough again today. Caught this glimpse of Otman reflected in a mirror on the wall and was very taken with it. Perhaps I should have used a narrower aperture, but maybe the limited dof captures his portrait well.

To the Theatre Royal in Nottingham tonight to watch one set of Opera North's Little Greats, a pairing of Leonard Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti with Gilbert and Sullivan's Trial by Jury.

Bernstein's piece had a seemingly banal subject which was yet terrifyingly full of pathos. A suburban marriage is falling apart, the couple bicker, want to reunite but are profoundly unsure of themselves. If anything makes you ponder the futility of existence, this was it. Everything so wonderful on the surface, so empty underneath.

The G&S provided a humorous foil, full of jollity and nonsense, Angelina dressed in next to nothing and a judge riddled with arthritis.

Ironically, both pieces featured quite strongly the very topical subject of sexual harassment. In Trouble in Tahiti, the husband calls his secretary into his office and tells her that she should forget entirely that he had made a pass at her. It never happened. In Trial by Jury, the defendant who had allegedly breached his promise of marriage to Angelina, openly admitted that his affections were fluid. He would marry one today and another tomorrow. The gentlemen of the jury affirmed that they had been like that when young, but were now respectable chaps. The entire piece revolves around lust.