Master Class

Synopsis

1971. New York. You are invited to a master class with the great soprano, Marie Callas. In five years time her death will transport her to legendary status, worshipped as the greatest diva of them all. Now she is witty, bitchy and flamboyant, demanding and insecure. She recalls the soaring highlights of her own career and her disastrous private life. She takes you back to her childhood in Nazi-occupied Greece, relives scenes with envious colleagues, insulting dressers, her elderly husband and her treatment in the hands of Onassis, one of the richest men in the world and her lover. She will transport you to the scene of her greatest triumph at Milan's La Scala opera house and thrill you with the magic of her voice. Master Class was a huge hit on Broadway where it won a Tony Award and enjoyed a West End run.

Our Review:

1 February 2011

It's been a self-referential week for Oxford theatre. Following on from a ballsy student production of The Seagull, we now have Terrence McNally’s Master Class for our consideration. Plays about theatre can be more divisive than celebratory; there is a real danger of preaching to the choir. Given the dwindling audiences in regional theatres, there is a danger of creative stultification as the opportunity for demonstrating the power of performance to fresh faces disappears. Master Class is about this power as much as it is a character study of Maria Callas, and the extent to which it succeeds is the extent to which it demonstrates this power, as opposed to merely discussing it.

Stephanie Beecham as Callas is magnificent from start to finish. Her superb comic timing left me convulsing in the stalls more than once. One of the most impressive aspects of a highly impressive performance is the command that Beecham brings to the stage. Having only heard Mari...

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