press

polly graham opera director

“Get ready, here I come: 20 talents to set to take 2017 by storm –

Opera – Polly Graham

The young director been catching eyes for several years with productions for Barefoot Opera (which she co-founded), Welsh National Youth Opera and Independent Opera. Last summer’s take on Peter Maxwell Davies’s Kommilitonen! was hailed as brilliant and bold, November’s powerful production of Hartmann’s tricky anti-war rarity Simplicius Simplicissimus for Independent Opera showcased her imagination and confidence. After studying directing at Rada she was mentored by David Pountney as the Genesis assistant director at Welsh National Opera; her final project in that role was an informal performance piece celebrating the unsung heroes of the opera world – the stage crew. Next spring the 32-year-old reaches a wider audience with her debut production for the WNO main stage. She’s directing another rarity, Swiss composer Frank Martin’s Le Vin Herbé, an intimate version of the Tristan and Isolde story that offers a very different take on the legendary lovers to that of Wagner.”

The Guardian, Unmissable Culture 2017 January 7, 2017

Simplicius Simplicissimus – Independent Opera – Sadler’s Wells

“Polly Graham’s intensely physical production for Independent Opera cleverly moves between 17th and 20th century Germany, underscoring that, whatever the era, war will always brutalise its protagonists.” **** The Observer November 20, 2016

“Polly Graham breathes fiery life into Harmann’s flawed drama.

Polly Graham’s explosively physical production for Independent Opera harnesses its outrage to fiery effect.” *** The Arts Desk, November 15, 2016

“Polly Graham’s production reimagines Simplicius (Stephanie Corley) as a boy left alone in a bombed-out house at the end of the second world war, and surveys its narratives through his imagination. Hartmann envisaged his protagonist as a teenager rather than a child, but the concept allows Graham to glide freely between the 20th and 17th centuries and to underscore Hartmann’s point that war indiscriminately brutalises all its participants … Both work and staging only pull their punches in the final scene, which will haunt you long after leaving the theatre.” **** The Guardian November 14, 2016

Cont / …

“…. Simplicius Simplicissimus has waited long for its UK premier. At least Polly Graham’s production for Independent Opera, using a sharp new translation by David Pountney, is worthy of the task. And it is a lot more too: 100 minutes of thrilling and sometimes shocking physical theatre … Resisting the temptation to set the whole thing in the Nazi era, Graham goes for an eclectic period mix spiced by black-comedy stylisation … What’s most impressive, however, is the resourceful way she utilises every inch of the restricted space .. ***** The Times, November 14, 2016

“Simply Brilliant: Hartmann’s Simplissimuss Simplicissimus at Sadler’s Wells

… Polly Graham’s terrific staging – a thrilling physical tour de force that matches the intensity of the music and drama. She marshals her cast with great mastery … In all, it would be hard to imagine a better introduction of this fascinating and gripping work to British audiences.” ***** Bachtrack, November 12, 2016

Kommilitonen! – Welsh National Youth Opera – Memo, Barry

“ … Polly Graham’s brilliantly conceived staging… The atmosphere combined vibrancy with volatility… The use of the Memo Arts Centre by Graham and the designer Gabriella Slade was highly imaginative. Graham’s instinct to intercut tighter perspectives … brought a cinematic dimension to everything reinforcing the feeling of being a witness to real-life events. Perhaps the highest compliment to be paid is that this was Graham Vick-style work at its most immediate and exhilarating.”

Opera, October 2016

“Polly Graham’s brilliant, explosive new production…This has got to be one of the operatic events of the year”

Wales Arts Review, August 1, 2016

“the work emerged incredibly strongly here in director Polly Graham’s inclusive, immersive, promenade-style staging, almost cinematic in its boldness.” ***** The Guardian July 31, 2016

“In Welsh National Youth Opera’s stirring new production, this docu-opera is sobering and uplifting … the director Polly Graham transforms this piece into a promenade opera. Her Kommilitonen! is set in the round. … it clarified rather than confused events, keeping us alert and involved.”

**** The Times July 29, 2016

“…this production, by Polly Graham, is a dazzlingly impressive affair”

***** The Arts Desk, July 29, 2016