The Pilgrim’s Progress

Although it worked well enough for
Janacek in his final opera, Oida’s basic conceit of presenting the story as a
play put on by prisoners feels clichéd and straining for context.  He takes his cue, of course, from the fact
that Bunyan wrote his morality tale while imprisoned, and that’s how Vaughan
Williams frames his adaptation, but Oida overplays the ritual in an unduly
reverential approach to the cod religiosity of the piece.  In doing so, he detracts from the
storytelling, although he does allow us to wallow in the colour and naughtiness
of Vanity Fair, which bursts with life after the solemnity of a long grey
opening.

The burnished metal sets revolve
and re-arrange themselves in a fairly inventive way and there are certainly some
striking images, including a giant muppet as the monster Apollyon, who brings Wagner’s
Fafner inevitably to mind.  Projections
of men in the trenches seem something of a non-sequitur, notwithstanding some
justification in the programme notes (Vaughan Williams’s own experiences in the
Great War and the soldiers’ love of Bunyan’s tale).  There’s some satisfaction to be had in the
conflict between incarceration and a picaresque adventure that takes in
valleys, mountains, castles and cities, and like the hero it’s all very effectively executed with
undeniable dramatic flair, but ultimately doesn’t amount to much more than a
staged concert. 

A huge cast sing well, with
sterling work from the chorus, who you never feel are less than well-drilled,
motivated and fully present.  Roland Wood
is untiring and focused as the Pilgrim and there are notable contributions from
Timothy Robinson and George Van Bergen, playing a multitude of moral ciphers
with names like Mr By-Ends and Lord Hate-Good (not to mention a Court Usher
with his arse hanging out).  Other cast
members get moments to shine and I was taken with Kitty Whately’s Woodcutter’s
Boy, re-realised as a touching and sweet-natured tea lady.

The Pilgrim’s
Progress is worth seeing because it’s such a rarity (this is the
first fully-staged London production for over 60 years) but mostly for Vaughan
Williams’s glorious score, so redolent of his symphonic output, and Martin
Brabbyns’s conducting of it, which is sensationally good.

ENO have championed Vaughan
Williams in recent years with productions of Sir John in
Love and Riders to the Sea and, if this falls short
of a thrilling theatrical experience, it’s exactly the sort of work they should
be doing.

– Simon Thomas