Last year, Liveartshow's gloriously bizarre opera 'Manga Sister' was a highpoint in The Yard's maiden season. This year they're back with a retelling of Richard Wagner's 'Das Rheingold'… that isn't actually an opera.
It's a strange concept: if you're unfamiliar with the original, definitely read a synopsis online before watching this show, or you will have no clue what's going on. On the other hand, if you are familiar with 'Das Rheingold', you'll be aware that the plot is essentially garbage, and you may wonder why on earth anybody would want to see it without the songs.
Blending dance, music, abstract visuals and straight acting, 'Rhinegold' is often baffling, but director Martin Constantine's production does harbour moments of brilliance, like the sublime opening, in which we watch a giant projection of the dwarf Alberich in the womb while Harry Blake's ambient techno score explodes around us.
In fact there are plenty of good moments, it's just the whole that's the problem, a wilfully obtuse mishmash of stylistically divergent vignettes that seems intended to confuse Wagner novices and fans alike.