Review: LA PéRICHOLE at European Theatre Club - Comédie Royale Claude Volter

Operettas are difficult to put on in today’s modern world. Their theatrical language asks for lightness, rhythm, caricature, and elegance, all at the same time. Put too much weight on them and they collapse. Treat them too casually and they become empty.

ETCetera’s production of Offenbach’s LA PÉRICHOLE understands the balance. It starts with energy, colour, and a clear love for the genre.

The curtain opens on an authentic visual universe. The set, created by Marc Leire, Luís Bronsoms, and Andrew Fisk, transports us to Peru with a simple, warm and, I would even say nostalgic theatricality for this form. The colours are generous and the stage has the charm of a village square. It’s intimate, spirited, and full of character. Stage left, the small orchestra looks and feels like a group of village musicians playing in the square for the people around them. It would have been even better if they were also dressed as the other characters. It’s an intimate choice, and it works beautifully. Under the enthusiastic musical direction of Steven de Mesmaeker, the orchestra gives the evening its pulse without ever overwhelming the stage.

Andrew Fisk’s staging keeps the show light on its feet. The fourth wall is broken throughout, and the performers sing and act as much towards the audience as towards each other. That places the evening clearly inside a comic tradition almost reminiscent of commedia dell’arte, direct, raw, simple, and deliberately theatrical. It’s a style that fits Offenbach’s world well.

The characters are colourful, caricatured, and over the top in the right sense. They belong to a classical operetta universe and fully embrace that code. The story itself is a light farce, with no heavy emotional burden and no real psychological depth. It moves through romance, power, disguise, status, and comic misunderstanding with ease.

The ensemble is one of the production’s strongest assets. It’s energetic, constantly moving, and full of good humour. Rocío Pérez Segura’s choreography gives the group dynamism, personality, and punch. The movement is inventive and comic, and it helps the stage stay alive even in moments that could easily become static. You feel the actors enjoying the world they’re building together.

The costumes are also central to the production’s success. Conceived by Mary Wiklander Williams, with work from Claudia Hütten, Elizabeth Tanghe, Majbritt Le Courtois, Nina Barshina, and Persefoni Karmiri, they create a rich and coherent colour palette. They support the classical style of the piece while keeping the stage fresh, playful, and visually generous. 

Maria Beatriz Ferraz de Oliveira brings charisma and strong energy to La Périchole. She has a natural connection with the audience, and she understands the lightness of the role. Marco Michelon gives Piquillo charm and presence, with a good voice and a very convincing comic quality. Together, they carry the central relationship with warmth and style.

Deniz Celik creates a strong Don Andrés de Ribeira, clearly enjoying the comic possibilities of the Viceroy of Peru. Pieter Goosens as the Count Miguel de Panatellas and Hugues Staes as Don Pedro de Hinoyosa help shape the surrounding machinery of power and absurdity. Robert Mathiak and Pierre-Boris Thoron bring character to the two notaries, while Peter Lemerle, Peter Willis, and Guy Farmer add to the broader comic texture of the evening.

The production team’s collective work is visible throughout. Produced by Peter Willis and Giselle Maksoud, with stage management by Giselle Maksoud, musical arrangements by Paul Manterfield, sound by Mihir Samavedam, and surtitles by José Manuel Argilés and Andrew Fisk, the evening has the feeling of a company that knows how to build together. And that matters. Operetta needs trust, timing, and generosity.

ETCetera, founded in 2009 as the European Theatre Club by Peter Willis and Teresa Perez Roca, has clearly developed a real affection for Offenbach. You can feel that synergy here. LA PÉRICHOLE doesn’t try to reinvent the genre. It delivers what it promises: a classical operetta night out, filled with colour, movement, music, good humour, and performers who clearly love what they’re doing. It’s charming. It’s sincere. It sends you out smiling.

Final rating: 8.5 /10 (Recommended for audiences who enjoy classical operetta performed with energy, colour, and genuine affection for the genre).

To post a comment, you must register and login.

Don't Miss a Belgium News Story
Sign up for all the news on the Summer season, discounts & more...