Finding Butterfly

'"Madame Butterfly" re-imagined' they promised us, and what did we get? 'Madame Butterfly'! More or less. No shame in that: Puccini's masterpiece can withstand another performance. But the Wedding Collective have done it few favours, shearing the score to within an inch of its life and riffing on the original plot for no convincing reason. Gone is Act 1 as we know it. Instead, Butterfly's story is retold through the eyes of her son, who has returned to a bomb-ravaged Nagasaki in 1948 in search of his past. Rewind 23 years to find Butterfly, a patient in hospital, being treated for a mental disorder while awaiting the return of her shag-and-run American serviceman.

There's probably a trendy statement in all this about colonialism and identity, but where it falls flat is on basic dramatic impact – particularly in a venue so cramped and hostile to the opera's sheer scale. Despite Andrew Charity's committed playing, the ravishing score mews like a kitten on the keyboard, while the central couple are forced to manoeuvre their mating rituals within the confines of about four square metres. Luckily the singing doesn't suffer as a result and there are excellent performances from Li Li – an introspective, deeply felt Butterfly – and Joe Morgan as Pinkerton.