EDINBURGH 2023: Review: THE GRAND OLD OPERA HOUSE HOTEL, Traverse Theatre

Written by Isobel Mcarthur and directed by Gareth Nicholls and The Grand Old Opera House Hotel is staged at the Traverse Theatre as part of TravFest23.

It's Aaron (Ali Watt)'s first day at The Grand Old Opera House Hotel. That's not its official name, it is more what it is known by the locals as. The hotel is part of a soulless chain which prides itself on every single room and experience being identical.

One of the so-called staff perks is that the staff live on-site, but the catch is that they are allocated a different room every day. They're reached by an electric buzzer which wakes them for their shift, alerts them if a room needs an attendant and lets them know when a shift is completed. It's almost dystopian but also all too realistic for anyone who has ever worked for a similar company. 

On Aaron's first day in the hotel, he sees the outline of a woman singing the most beautiful song he's ever heard. After talking to other staff members he learns that before it was a hotel, it was a theatre that was engulfed in a fire during an opera and the cast never made it out alive. Strange things keep happening in the hotel and the super high-tech functions fall victim to power failures and flickering lights and sticking locks. 

Amy (Karen Fishwick) has worked at the hotel for a few years and is obsessed with opera. She discovers through a stuck door that Aaron has heard her singing and keeps leaving him love letters in the form of cassette tapes throughout the hotel. With 900 rooms it shouldn't be that hard for the two to meet, right? Well, it definitely doesn't help that Aaron believes his great love is a ghost. And maybe she is. 

The Grand Old Opera House is completely unpredictable and wonderfully farcical as the rooms continue to change (while staying the same) to introduce a fantastic ensemble that make up an array of bizarre hotel guests. The production is soundtracked with familiar opera music (even to a novice) with some beautiful performances. 

The Grand Old Opera House Hotel runs at The Traverse Theatre until 27 August

Photo credit: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan

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