Diary of a Culture Hedonist

Sarah Kane's Cleansed exposed the dark world of torture. If it was shock and awe, then the direction from Katie Mitchell did the job. The cast delivered an intense performance. I've even heard of other punters fainting during the play. The plot, however, I found very thin - making the torture scenes somewhat gratuitous.

I've never seen a Chabrier opera. One hears the odd aria on the radio or at recitals, but seldom sees his works staged now. So it was a real delight to go to the Royal Opera's first performance of L'étoile. The set (by Julia Hansen) was crazy and fun. The cast delivered bagfuls of humour and wit under the watchful eyes of Sir Mark Elder (who took part in some of the comic moments). Please bring it back soon.