Don Giovanni – Flat Pack Music at Thirsk Hall

Sarah Helsby-Hughes’ direction is inspired as we embrace La Dolce Vita of 1960’s Italy in Flat Pack Music’s ingenious and comic interpretation of one of Mozart’s most complete operas as part of the De Mowbray Music Festival in Thirsk.

Don Giovanni (Richard Walshe) has seduced over two thousand women, all catalogued by servant Leporello (Hamish Garrity), and he is looking to add another name with his attempted rape of Donna Anna (Carrie-Ann Williams) that results in him killing her father, the Commendatore (George Elson), and which her fiancé Don Ottavio (Joseph Buckmaster) swears to revenge.

Donna Elvira (Helsby-Hughes), an earlier conquest, has come in search of Don Giovanni, although he is now trying to seduce peasant girl Zerlina (Heather Buckmaster) on her wedding day to Masetto (Edward Wenborn) and later attempts to rape her at his party.

The next day, Giovanni forces Leporello to swap clothes so that he can try his luck with Elvira’s maid in disguise but later in the graveyard he is confronted by the demons from his past: will he seek redemption and change his ways or is he doomed to burn in hell?

The challenge of this opera is that we are cleverly lulled by the music, lyric and comic performance into liking the rake at its centre in spite of his behaviour, and in contrast feeling somewhat less sympathetic to those he wrongs. Here the balance felt just right with its considered conclusion reinforcing the message of just desserts in a modern world plagued by such characters.

With the simplest of stagings, Helsby-Hughes dramatisation works wonderfully with a desk and two chairs transforming throughout to serve innumerable purposes and a lighting scheme that reflected the inevitable descent into darkness and shadow and the burning red flames of hell. I particularly liked the costumes of the masquerade ball with masks to reinforce the underlying characterisation.

A reduced DMM Festival Orchestra led by Matthew Chadbond and conducted by Benjamin Ellin along with Repetiteur Jonathan Ellis are more than enough to capture the elegance and grace of Mozart’s score which is evident from the first measures of the ravishing overture through to the madrigal at its conclusion.

The success of any production of this opera is dependent on the acting and chemistry between its players and this production oozed quality in every quarter with some excellent choreography to suit a marquee in the gardens of Thirsk Hall and whose curved design balanced the acoustics perfectly.

All round performances and vocal delivery from the cast were excellent and we are treated to so many superb solos, dynamic duets and more that I can’t in all fairness single anybody out.

Elson was an imposing presence as the Commendatore both alive and dead whilst Helsby-Hughes delightfully showed both sides of Elvira, bitter and sharp in the first half yet more reflective and hopeful in the second.

Williams’ assured heartfelt delivery emotionally embraced Donna Anna’s shift from victim to survivor seeking revenge, unafraid to toy with Ottavio’s affections, whose confusion was captured superbly by J Buckmaster, as he determined to do the right thing by her.

Wenborn was inspired as the riled and over-sensitive Masetto, unafraid to show his emotions when H Buckmaster’s suitably coy Zerlina – charming and flirtatious in equal measure – happily wraps him round her little finger, whilst she is suitably starstruck in the presence of Giovanni. With H Buckmaster in real-life in her third trimester, we had the added pleasure of an unforeseen comic layer to the plot that I’m sure Mozart would have been proud of.

Garrity excelled with his lively take on Leporello, whose tested loyalty demonstrates his despair and evokes our sympathy for the poor way in which his master treats him, with a fine voice and comic acting performance throughout.

Walshe performed brilliantly, capturing the balance between comic and downright nastiness which this opera thrives upon, and with a twinkle in his eye, serving up a delightful ‘Deh, vieni alla finestra’: look out Peter Mattei, you’ve got a rival…

We are also graced with a captivating chorus quartet – Tamsin Sandford Smith; Nia Edwards; Ruby Lewin; Ruby Magee – who add a further layer of intrigue as detectives, journalists, and pallbearers, to name a few, whilst doing the heavy lifting for stage manager Mark Rawlinson who ensured all the parts combined to form a perfect whole.

De Mowbray Music Festival is an annual four-day celebration of music and the arts in Thirsk. Further information https://www.demowbraymusic.com/de-mowbray-music-festival

Grade II* listed Thirsk Hall is a country home to the arts with 20 acres of garden and parkland. Further information https://www.thirskhall.com/

Flat Pack Music is a music charity based in North West England, dedicated to transforming perceptions of and engagement with music and the performing arts. Further information https://www.flatpackmusic.co.uk/

Don Giovanni’s next scheduled performance is at Lowther Pavilion Theatre and Gardens in Lytham St Annes on Sunday 7^th September at 4pm. Further details and booking https://lowtherpavilion.co.uk/shows/mozarts-don-giovanni/

Reviewer: Mark Davoren

Reviewed: 16^th August 2025

North West End UK Rating: