That Bastard, Puccini!

Park Theatre

Playing until 9th August 2025

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Photo credit: David Monteith-Hodge

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Leoncavallo and Puccini’s friendship quickly turned sour and descended into chaotic rivalry when Puccini (Sebastien Torkia) decides to compose and stage his own version of La bohème when he found out Leoncavallo’s (Alasdair Buchan) idea. The two frenemies must enter a battle of wit and constant bicker as they try to outshine and beat the other as they fight over the speed and quality of their materials and ability to secure the most prestigious venue for their respective production.

Writer, James Inverne’s script beautifully conveys artists’ desperation as they attempt to proof themselves to their audiences, living in fear being of being outshined by both newcomers and established talents. This is perhaps most clearly demonstrated by Buchan’s Leoncavallo, who loses sleep and risks damaging his relationship with his wife, Berthe (Lisa-Anne Wood), in an attempt to finish his pieces before Puccini. However, Leoncavallo is constantly being pestered and tortured by Puccini, both with his physical and metaphysical imagined presence. In theory, this provides a solid foundation for a comedy where the two rivals try to one up another at every turn. In reality, the combination of Inverne’s narrative and Daniel Slater’s direction resulted in an unpredictable toing and froing between comedy and mundane frustration.

What started as a promising production quickly turned into a lot of finger pointing and low brow insults, periodically spaced out by moments of lovey dovey husband-wife interactions between Leoncavallo and Berthe, where Berthe temporarily lifts Leoncavallo out of his depressive streak. This constant change of pace and pattern become a little tiresome after a while, and it would have been helpful for the writer to fully to commit to one or the other for more than ten minutes at a time.

Despite weaknesses of the script and some of the creative choices, the talented cast ought to be applauded for their stellar performances. Buchan perfectly captures Leoncavallo’s frustration and lunacy as he is constantly one upped by his rival, Torkia capturing the fundamental essence of aloofness and condescension in Puccini, and last but not least, Wood belting out snippets of unexpected aria as required.

The set designed by Carly Brownbridge is transformed multiple times throughout to add layers to the narrative, with the drawing of the stage curtain and stage bow being one of the better received comedy moments in the show.

That Bastard, Puccini! Is filled with insights into the struggles of composers. However, while it does provide some sharp snippets of humorous comedy, the quality of it is far too inconsistent to demand audience’s full attention.  

Creatives

Writer: James Inverne

Director: Daniel Slater

Musical Director: Tim Murray

Set and Costume Design: Carly Brownbridge

Lighting Design: Katy Morison

Sound Design: Yvonne Gilbert

Producers: Rebecca Gwyther, J. Todd Harris