Opera Loki’s vision for Rigoletto is strongly Victorian, with white painted faces, stage makeup and traditional, yet simple costumes. Directed by Rae Leaver, the production’s vision is that of “a ragged group of performers, fortune tellers and travellers [who] come together to perform a very special piece before they disband” – a concept you could blink and miss, if you hadn’t read the programme. Our performers do indeed look vividly Victorian, thanks to skilled costumiers Carolyn Bear and Pam Line, but a small scrap of silent stage business during the prelude doesn’t make much impact on what is, in general, a very straight and traditional reading of Rigoletto, to a piano accompaniment played energetically by Nick Fletcher.

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