The Knife of Dawn
★★

New Dark Age
★★★★

Royal Opera House

The Royal Opera House presents a double bill with The Knife of Dawn and New Dark Age. The Knife of Dawn is ROH’s response to black history month and A New Dark Age offers a sense of solace in the troubling times of Covid and lockdown.

As it was very well received at The Roundhouse in 2016, I feel a lot less guilty about not liking The Knife of Dawn. I have to admit there’s a lot to like about it but ultimately there is a fatal flaw.

Composed by Hannah Kendall with a libretto by Tessa McWatt, directed by Ola Ince and starring baritone Peter Braithwate, The Knife of Dawn tells the story of Martin Carter, a writer and activist imprisoned in Guyana in the ’50s. It shows Carter during a period of incarceration and draws on his poetry and life story. The show begins with a narrator’s voice contextualising the piece.

Reviews from the 2016 production at The Roundhouse have suggested that music supports the heroism of the vocal lines, but in my opinion I think it rather contradicts the message.

The libretto, the story, the staging, the costume and characterisation are all of a piece and exceptionally executed. And while Brathwaite delivers a strong, emotionally layered performance, the dissonance and atonality of the music fails to reflect the soul and spirit of Caribbean political activism — in fact, it runs counter to it.

When Carter talks of his love and sings “With a guardian by my side,” I couldn’t help but think “with Guardian readers by my side” would be a more appropriate sentiment for this opera.

It’s not that the music is bad, it’s that its atonality is actually tone-deaf to the mise en scene. Where everything else fits together, the music doesn’t.

On the other hand, New Dark Age, directed by Katie Mitchell with music by Ann Meredith, Missy Mazzoli and Anna Thorvaldsdottir, is a thought-provoking exploration of the experiences of women in Covid times.

The three pieces are engaging, with dynamic music and interesting staging. The performances, the staging, the music and the libretto all compliment each other to create a very effective mood. And that’s why this piece works in a way the previous one doesn’t.

New Dark Age not only reflects the experiences and challenges of living in Covid times, the merging of  the classical and the contemporary as well as the use of multimedia technology reflects where the opera world could and should move.

James Mather

Both shows are available to purchase for streaming on the ROH’s website: roh.org.uk/tickets-and-events/new-dark-age-details.