ArtsWom had a night out last Thursday at the latest production of Philip Glass’s opera Satyagraha, which is built around Mahatma Gandhi’s time in South Africa between 1893 and 1914.

The production is astounding in the strong and coherent visual style it generates from next to nothing on the stage. The creation of farmland from nothing more than a few twigs and then the growing sprawl of a town manifested in metal sheets is brilliant in its simplicity. Huge puppets of man and beast seemingly rise from nothing on the sparsely decorated stage. For those that want the illusion broken they are in fact built by the performers on stage from props, that until they appear as the mid section of a goliath crocodile, you had not noticed. Another feature of the set is the rusty backdrop that has innumerable doors, windows and slide away sections that re-structured the space almost constantly.

It is fitting that only now do I mention the music because however good Glass’s composition, it does have some of its edge dulled by the masterful stage play. The viewer is occassionally distracted, as actors don stilts and wires to bring to life a 15-foot tall woman made of newspaper, for example. This is only a minor flaw though, as Glass asks the singers and musicians involved for a dedication to the work beyond the realms of the usual. The flautist for one 20-minute period appeared to be resolvedly repeating a short, but particular phrasing without pause. The same commitment is required of the singers and their stamina is phenomenal. Creating a meditative state is what is achieved precisely and efficiently giving the audience an aural setting for all they see.

During Phelim McDermott’s and Julian Crouch’s production of Satyagraha at the ENO it feels like an unmitigated success and afterwards a sensation of the significant embeds itself, as though you have witnessed an event that is as important and relevant as it is brilliant.

To read the review from one of ArtsWom’s guests for the night at the opera go to Anna’s Blog.

SkyArts who are sponsoring the current season at the ENO have an evening of programmes dedicated to Philip Glass scheduled for the 14^th April; details can be found here.