The reviews are in! First up, a review from Maria Kästner

REVIEW

Ona’s Flood and Noye’s Fludde, Tithe Barn, Bradford on Avon

Bradford BarnStorm (Salisbury Playhouse, Iford Arts, Wiltshire Music Centre)

Friday 12 July, 2013

After having seen advertisements all over the town of Bradford on Avon , I felt truly honoured to see the World Premiere of Ona’s Flood by Harvey Brough, only to be followed by another outstanding performance of Noye’s Fludde by Benjamin Britten.

Ona’s Flood is the fictional 21st century tale of a young woman, Ona (Carris Jones) who recognises the catastrophic world flood that approaches. This contemporary opera involved a choir of adults from all corners of the community, harmonising together not only to give a moving performance, but to carry forth a warning message about today’s environmental issues.

For me, it was the use of modern colloquial lyrics juxtaposed with plainchant and ancient themes that made this performance original. Yet what impacted me the most was the child’s voice who narrated the news report that about the recent New York flooding, highlighting the message that ‘climate change is now a reality’.

The companion piece was Noye’s Fludde, following the Biblical Noah’s Ark story. The brilliant Noye (Andrew Slater) not only had a powerful voice that filled the space of the Tithe Barn, but also had a lovely way of working with the 100+ primary-aged children as the animal chorus on stage too. His performance, along with talented young soloists from St Laurence School, provided an uplifting experience. 

Andrew Slater appears on the Tithe Barn stage as Noye, alongside over 100 primary school children in animal hats and rainbow-coloured ponchos

The huge cast achieved an inspiring and earthy performance in which the audience were invited to join in with the hymns. This, one of Britten’s instructions, was a particularly wonderful way to pull together the community of Bradford on Avon as well as reiterating the opera’s message: working together through adversity to achieve a beautiful goal.

What an innovative way to use the historic Tithe Barn, and a perfect local acknowledgement of the nationwide Britten Centenary celebrations.

© Maria Kästner

St Laurence School, Year 12