Suck it and see: Powder Her Face premieres in the Netherlands

Laura Bohn (Duchess)

Alison Scherzer, Daniel Arnaldos and Laura Bohn (Duchess)

Laura Bohn (Duchess) and John Savournin

Powder Her Face

By Eleanor Knight, 09 February 2024

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“less is more, as they say in striptease, and it’s surprising how quickly lust can turn lacklustre”

Reviewed at Stadsschouwburg, Utrecht on 8 February 2024

Adès, Powder Her Face

De Nederlandse Reisopera

Otto Tausk, Conductor

Paul Carr, Director

Dominique Wiesbauer, Set Designer, Costume Designer

Thomas C Hase, Lighting Designer

Laura Bohn, Duchess

John Savournin, Hotel Manager

Alison Scherzer, Maid

Daniel Arnaldos, Electrician

Carmine De Amicis, Choreography

A strikingly colourful Ariadne auf Naxos from Nederlandse Reisopera

Clare Varney, 1st February

Juliana Zara and Annemarie Kremer lead the cast in a riotous, yet deeply touching, new production from Nederlandse Reisopera.

****1

Nederlandse Reisopera’s Fidelio makes opera truly accessible for all

Clare Varney, 22nd April

This was opera which found expression using modern technology in a way that did not offend, intimidate or distract the audience, but rather enhanced the experience.

****1

A memorable Zauberflöte from Nederlandse Reisopera

Clare Varney, 20th January

A top-class line-up of international soloists produce an accomplished and polished semi-staging for the company's tour.

****1

An Orfeo of infinite beauty by Nederlandse Reisopera

Nicolas Nguyen, 9th February

The brainchild of opera director Monique Wagemakers, choreographer Nanine Linning and visual artist Lonneke Gordijn, this Orfeo by Nederlandse Reisopera is a thing of infinite beauty.

*****

Dutch Reisopera’s winning A Little Night Music

Nicolas Nguyen, 26th March

Programming Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music is quite a daring move in a country with no real tradition in musical. This production by Nederlands Reisopera shows that fortune favours the bold.

****1

A dystopian police state for Reisopera's new Tosca

Nicolas Nguyen, 6th November

A fine cast convinces in Dutch Reisopera's new Tosca, staged in a dystopian police state.

***11

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Eleanor Knight

Eleanor is a writer and librettist. Her work has appeared in all kinds of places from the Royal Opera House to the foot tunnels beneath the Elephant and Castle roundabout, and she has written arts reviews and features for British papers and magazines. Having begun her working life in theatre, she switched to publishing and later taught creative writing at the University of Brighton and Birkbeck. Currently based in the Netherlands, she teaches at the University of Utrecht. Eleanor plays violin and sings, though not usually at the same time, and has recently taken up speed-skating.