Gareth's Culture and Travel Blog

I was drawn to this more by the opportunity to see cabaret performer and chanteuse Camille O’Sullivan than by Shakespeare’s poem. In the end, it was the combination of both, plus the original music of Feargal Murray, that made the evening.

She acknowledges the audience as she places footwear representing both Lucrece and Tarquin on the QEH stage, before launching into the tragic telling of Lucrece’s story. The narration is interspersed with songs and there is some ‘incidental’ music and both add much to the storytelling.

It’s a virtuoso performance from O’Sullivan, who has real charisma and a captivating way of engaging with her audience. I found some of the more tragic parts a little harsh and it was only when she sung unamplified and unaccompanied, with great purity, towards the end that I realised what I’d missed by having the amplification, though I suppose in a space of this size it was necessary.

Hard to categorise, but for me both an original idea and an impressive performance.