“The Magic Flute” – Adapted
and directed by Mark Dornford-May. Performed by Isango Ensemble. Presented by
ArtsEmerson, Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre, 219 Tremont Street, Boston
through November 10.
It all begins with the marimbas, tables of long wooden bars mounted above resonators, instruments that look similar to xylophones, but the sound is so much different. It’s a joyous sound – the sound of a warm and faraway place where the atmosphere is festive. And the rhythm that throbs under the music just makes you want to dance.
“The Magic Flute” – Adapted and directed by Mark Dornford-May. Performed by Isango Ensemble. Presented by ArtsEmerson, Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre, 219 Tremont Street, Boston through November 10.
The 21 or so performers of Isango Ensemble, a troupe made up of black South Africans, are unassuming and relaxed as they warm up onstage before the show begins. They could be neighbors you pass on the street, or strangers you see on the T, or colleagues in your workplace until their conductor, taut and precise, steps onstage and raises his arms. Isango Ensemble are immediately transformed into performers, filling the space with energy, musicianship and joy. This transformation, not something that audience members usually get to bear witness to, lasts throughout the next two hours during this magical retelling of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute”. Truly an ensemble, the performers are so in tune with one another and the score that they are able to play without the benefit of sheet music. Their instruments consist of marimbas, drums, feet, hands, and in one cleverly executed instance, a trumpet.
