Die Fledermaus | Opera Holland Park, London, 2016
Johann Strauss II’s effervescent operetta about mistaken identities, elaborate pranks, and champagne-fueled revelry, reimagined for early twentieth-century London. Director Martin Lloyd-Evans’s production transplants the action from fin-de-siècle Vienna to the roaring 1920s English capital, creating a distinctive setting for Strauss’s sparkling score and timeless comedy about revenge, flirtation, and the morning-after consequences of a wild party.
Performed in English using Alistair Beaton’s 1994 translation, this production broke with Opera Holland Park’s 2016 tradition of presenting works in their original languages, making the operetta’s intricate plot and rapid-fire dialogue accessible while maintaining surtitles for clarity. Conducted by John Rigby leading the City of London Sinfonia, with choreography by Adam Scown and lighting by Howard Hudson, the production starred Ben Johnson as Eisenstein, Susanna Hurrell as Rosalind, and Jennifer France as Adele, whose coloratura performance as the go-getting chambermaid earned particular critical acclaim.
Set and Costume Design Vision
takis’ design captures the glamour and social hierarchies of 1920s London, creating a world of Art Deco elegance, jazz-age fashion, and the kind of sophisticated polish that defined British high society in the interwar period. The production’s relocation from Vienna to London allows the design to explore specifically English class dynamics and social pretensions while maintaining the operetta’s essential spirit of playful subversion.
The costume design spans multiple social milieus: Eisenstein and Rosalind’s comfortable bourgeois home; the elaborate disguises and formal wear of Prince Orlofsky’s grand ball; the austere environment of the prison where much of Act III unfolds. The design captures how characters use costume as social performance—Eisenstein’s Hungarian disguise, Rosalind’s masked ball elegance, Adele’s transformation from chambermaid to supposed actress.
The 1920s setting allows for spectacular period fashion: women in dropped-waist gowns with Art Deco beading, men in white tie and tails, the geometric patterns and streamlined silhouettes that defined the decade’s aesthetic. The ball scene becomes an opportunity to showcase the era’s visual extravagance—feathers, fringe, dramatic headpieces, and the kind of studied glamour that characterized elite social gatherings.
The minimalist aspects of the staging—including memorable moments like characters atop stacks of metal filing cabinets—create visual variety and support the operetta’s satirical edge, suggesting how social pretensions rest on absurdly precarious foundations.
Creative Team
- Director: Martin Lloyd-Evans
- Designer: takis
- Conductor: John Rigby
- Choreographer: Adam Scown
- Lighting Designer: Howard Hudson
- Composer: Johann Strauss II
- Libretto: Carl Haffner and Richard Genée
Production Context
Die Fledermaus (“The Bat”) premiered in Vienna in 1874 and has become one of the most frequently performed operettas worldwide, celebrated for Strauss’s waltz-filled score, sophisticated ensemble writing, and satirical examination of social pretension. The work’s combination of mistaken identities, marital intrigue, and champagne-soaked celebration has made it a New Year’s Eve tradition at opera houses globally.
Opera Holland Park, founded in 1989, presents open-air opera productions in the atmospheric setting of Holland Park’s ruins and gardens, creating intimate theatrical experiences in one of London’s most beautiful outdoor venues. The company is known for adventurous programming that balances rarities with reimagined classics.
This 2016 production received exceptional critical response, with multiple reviewers calling it “better than any operetta I can recall seeing on a London stage in quite some time.” The production demonstrated how operetta—often dismissed as lightweight entertainment—can achieve theatrical sophistication when directors and designers take its satirical potential seriously while honoring its fundamental sense of joy and celebration.
The decision to present Die Fledermaus in English and relocate it to 1920s London made the work feel freshly relevant while maintaining the timeless appeal of Strauss’s score and the universal comedy of social climbing, romantic complications, and elaborate practical jokes.