Lulu: A Murder Ballad, opera review – Sins of the father

 Lulu, a silent role, is danced gracefully but with little definition by Laura Caldow, says Nick Kimberley
Blank canvas: Martyn Jacques, with Laura Caldow as Lulu
Tom Arber
Nick Kimberley24 November 2015

Lulu, created by the German writer Frank Wedekind in his plays Earth Spirit (1895) and Pandora’s Box (1904), was one of 20th-century drama’s archetypal females, endlessly recreated in films, operas and novels but always a blank canvas on which male characters painted their fantasies. Her latest avatar appears in Lulu: A Murder Ballad, written by Martyn Jacques and performed by his trio The Tiger Lillies.

Jacques, a singer-songwriter of an unusually febrile imagination, has created a kind of staged concept album. He plays the part of Lulu’s father, who sells his daughter into prostitution then guides her malevolently through joyless sex, sundry betrayals, murder and eventually death at the hands of Jack the Ripper.

The narrative trajectory follows Wedekind but Jacques has little interest in realism. Nor are his songs really about Lulu. They’re about her father, whose story suits Jacques’s voice, a winning mix of Ian Dury’s barrow-boy rasp and Edna Everage’s coo-eee lilt. He accompanies himself variously on ukulele, piano and his trademark accordion; colourful support comes from James Golland on percussion and Adrian Stout on electric bass, musical saw and Theremin, an archaic electronic instrument.

As the description “ballad” suggests, this telling doesn’t need to be dramatised. Nevertheless, it is staged; instead of a set, director Mark Holthusen provides projected images which tend to prettify the narrative, while Lulu, a silent role, is danced gracefully but with little definition by Laura Caldow. As ever, Lulu remains an enigma.

Until November 28, Linbury Studio, Covent Garden (020 7304 4000, roh.org.uk)

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