The Merry Widow – Festival Theatre
In this modern adaptation of Franz Lehar’s 1905 operetta The Merry Widow, Scottish Opera presented us with a fresh, ingenious take on the classic comedy of errors. Featuring the mob of 1950s New York, a Sicilian lemon grove, and a million different miscommunications in love, John Savournin and David Eaton’s translation brings a much needed sense of accessibility and reimagination for today's audience. Typically being seen as an art form for the elites of the world, it seems Scottish Opera is making a very conscious effort to trample this narrative by reviving its productions in a way which appeals to a much wider audience - The Merry Widow being a trailblazing example of this. Not only with its English translation, but also by its consideration of setting, moving away from the more ster...