Review: Flamenc Oh!! (Peacock Theatre)

Review by Patrick Shorrock

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Noël Coward was aware of the tendency of French composers like Bizet, Debussy, and Ravel to add Gallic touches to their attempts at Spanish atmosphere. He once observed: “I think we must face the fact that Carmen by Bizet is no more Spanish than the Champs-Élysées.” By contrast, Flamenc Oh!! is deeply rooted in flamenco tradition.

This new piece, created by Yllana Productions in co-production with Sadler’s Wells and choreographed by Carlos Chamorro, comes to London following a sell-out run in Madrid and its debut at the Edinburgh Fringe. As you might guess from the title, it subverts flamenco as much as it celebrates it, while providing a showcase for some stunning dancing over a brisk 80 minutes without an interval.

I loved the way we got the full flamenco experience: frilly red and black dresses, castanets, the rhythmic stamping of feet, virtuosic guitar playing and peacocking masculinity. Tatiana de Sarabia’s costumes, Carlos Brayda’s atmospheric set and Juani González Vega’s lighting embrace the form’s visual language. A broad range of thrillingly visceral sounds from the performers, from guttural noises to conventional singing, combines with Luis López Segovia’s sound design, a backing track and mock-earnest narration that mercilessly skewers clichés: “At this point, desire becomes obsession.”

The music covers the whole waterfront. Alongside the classically predictable Albéniz and de Falla, it ventures into more popular territory, including Only You and Purple Rain.

Performers David Bastidas, Raquel Ortega, Raúl Ortega, Anabel Moreno and Luis Gallo embody a familiar gallery of archetypes, including the unyielding patriarch, the feckless son, the flighty daughter, the tradition-obsessed matriarch and the preening guitarist. There is a flimsy story with a couple of attempts to break out of this familiar formula. The father secretly wants to try on a woman’s dress and is caught by his wife when he finally yields to temptation. Because his son and daughter are equally brilliant dancers, the question of succession becomes a dance-off to determine who will inherit his white cane. Most of the plot is simply a perfunctory excuse for the dancing – and none the worse for that, when the dancing is as good as this. The performers display a knowing awareness of the clichés and tropes that encrust any traditional art form, which is very engaging.

Unfortunately, the production does not stop there, indulging in broad physical humour and feeble slapstick. The show’s heavy-handed title rather gives the game away. I felt that the passionate intensity and focus of flamenco was undermined by a restless desire to send it up. Having the amplified footsteps continue on the soundtrack after the dancer has stopped walking is only slightly funny the first time and not even that when it is repeated. I would much rather this hugely talented company simply danced than tried so hard to be funny.

That said, I’m not sure everyone in the audience agreed with me, with many audibly relishing both the humour and the many opportunities for audience participation. The performers take every opportunity to encourage us to clap, shout olé! and even join in the singing. I did wonder whether my response was a little too well-mannered and English. Even non-verbal humour can carry cultural nuances that do not always translate. Still, there was a definite thrill in seeing a Spanish company bring its irreverent take on flamenco to Covent Garden. This show is probably better after a few glasses of Rioja, but it will certainly waft you to Andalusia if you let it.

Flamenc Oh!! plays at the Peacock Theatre until 10 October. Tickets from https://www.sadlerswells.com/whats-on/flamenc-oh/#book

Photos by Pablo Lorente.