Youthful & engaging with relish for text & drama: Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea from HGO at Jackson's Lane Theatre

Monteverdi: L'incoronazione di Poppea - Hera Protopapas (Nerone), Theano Papadaki (Poppea) - HGO at Jackson's Lane Theatre (Photo: Julian Guidera)

Monteverdi: L'incoronazione di Poppea; Hera Protopapas, Theano Papadaki, Louis Pettit, Jasmine Flicker, Henry Saywell, Henry Kimber, Harriet Cameron, Clover Kayne, Betty Makharinsky, director: Ashley Pearson, conductor Seb Gillot, HGO; Jackson's Lane Theatre
Reviewed 15 November 2025

A young cast project both words and music with great vividness, drawing us into the drama in the small-scale but brilliantly realised production.

Most great music can take a variety of different approaches in performance, but it is worth remembering that the Venetian theatres in which Monteverdi's operas were premiered were not large affairs. His final opera, L'incoronazione di Poppea responds well to smaller, more intimate performance and, after all, the work is effectively a series of solo and dialogues. So, Jackson's Lane Theatre, the chosen venue for HGO's performances of Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea was in many ways ideal. The company gave eight performances with two casts, with many singers having two alternating roles so that Theano Papadaki, the Poppea in the performance was saw, was singing Damigella on alternate nights. We caught the penultimate performance on Saturday 15 November 2025.

The production was directed by Ashley Pearson who directed Handel's Agrippina for HGO in 2023 and Handel's Partenope for them in 2019 [see my review]. Music director Seb Gillot directed the period instrument ensemble of seven from the harpsichord and organ. Designs were by Sorcha Corcoran and Alice Carroll, with lighting by Sofia Alexiadou and Robin Hellier as intimacy/fight coach. Hera Protopapas was Nerone with Theano Papadaki as Poppea, Louis Pettit as Ottone, Jasmine Flicker as Drusilla, Henry Saywell as Seneca, Henry Kimber as Arnalta, Harriet Cameron as Amor, Clover Kayne as Virtu, Betty Makharinsky as Fortuna, Garreth Romain as Nutrice, Kristina Ammattil as Damigella, Emily Beech as Valetto, and Brennan Alleyne and Jack Harberd as soldiers.

Monteverdi: L'incoronazione di Poppea - Henry Saywell (Seneca), Henry Kimber (Famigliare) - HGO at Jackson's Lane Theatre (Photo: Julian Guidera)

The cast were all young singers; one of HGO's aims is to give younger singers a chance at exploring larger roles. In the case of L'incoronazione di Poppea this works historically as all the major protagonists (Seneca apart) were in their 20s or very early 30s. But there is a lot of dialogue in the opera, it is more like a sung place than later Baroque operas, and this can present a challenge to less inexperienced singers. It is to HGO's credit that, and thanks to assistant director/language coach Valeria Perboni, the cast all grasped the idea of the text with both hands. Italian diction was excellent all round and many of the singers attacked the Italian text with a wonderful relish. There were English surtitles, but this was the sort of performance where if your Italian was good enough, there was little need for surtitles.

Sorcha Corcoran's setting was quite straight-forward, just a rectangular space enlivened by billowing fabrics. There was some flexible scene setting, but the emphasis was on personal interaction and ensuring that scenes flowed. The end result was very much a feeling that we were at a sung play. Costumes were largely modern, though the goddesses were in antique garb whilst the soldiers had suggestions of armour and most of the protagonists wore coloured sashes.

We were presented with an admirably complete version of the opera, so that the goddesses returned for Poppea's coronation and the smaller roles - Valetto, Damigella - got their due. The only cut that I thought I detected was Arnalta's final scene of triumph on Poppea's crowning, which was a shame. Having last heard the opera with a tenor playing Nerone, it was a relief to come back to traditional casting with a (female) mezzo-soprano in the role. Apart from Nerone, all the cross-dressing characters were played according to the gender of the singer so that Arnalta and Nutrice were male, whilst Valetto was female. This worked well and was in complete accord with the modern dress of the production.

Monteverdi: L'incoronazione di Poppea
Kristina Ammattil (Damigella), Emily Beech (Valetto)
HGO at Jackson's Lane Theatre (Photo: Julian Guidera)

Ashley Pearson's production had thankfully few axes to grind, and Pearson seems to have concentrated on telling the story in a way that was convincing, direct and relatable as possible. One innovation which I rather liked was the three goddesses - Clover Kayne as Virtu, Betty Makharinsky as Fortuna, Harriet Cameron as Amor - were on stage as statues for significant amounts of time and all three had a lovely sense of the mischievous, interfering in the human activities. This meant that the goddesses were more involved than is sometimes the case and their participation in the final scenes of the opera made a great deal of sense. It helped that Kayne, Makharinsky and Cameron were a complete delight in their roles, combining relish for the text with a lovely sense of naughty humour.

Hera Protopas was a light-voiced, youthful Nerone. Protopas made him appealingly engaging yet completely self-centred. Thoughtless but with little of the viciousness that can sometimes be found in the role, she sang the music with flexibility and ease. As Poppea, Theano Papadaki had a darker, more contrasting voice. Papadaki was no pert soubrette, this Poppea was vibrant and poised, she knew what she wanted and was going for it. Protopas and Papadaki's voices contrasted nicely in the scenes together, culminating in the final, glorious duet.

Esme Loughlin-Dickenson's Ottavia was definitely a piece of work. Loughlin-Dickenson sang Ottavia's two great solos with a nicely touching feel, but she also brought out the character's viciousness and political machinations. It helped that Loughlin-Dickenson has a vividly dark-toned voice and rich lower register. Louis Pettit's Ottone never stood a chance, wedged between these two powerful women. Pettit's soft-grained tones and retiring manner made Ottone seem rather poetic and dreamy, but also reinforced the notion that the character is really a bit of a drip. Still, Pettit beautifully rendered the music and text. Jasmine Flicker made a pert and charming Drusilla. You felt sorry for her, true, but Flicker made it clear that Drusilla went into the conspiracy with her eyes open.

Henry Saywell was a dignified yet youthful Seneca. Saywell went to his death with dignity despite being stripped to his underwear and dowsed in water and fake blood. Saywell had fine, light-ish bass voice but definitely with all the notes and his composure and poise were notable.

The role of Arnalta seems to have been written for a low contralto (and the role may have been doubled by Nutrice, something that never happens today). There has been a modern fashion for casting Arnalta as a man, and I remember the tenor Alexander Oliver having a whale of a time in the Zurich Opera production in the 1980s. Here, Henry Kimber played Arnalta as a slightly camp, older man and sang the role in the haut contre register, tenor with an admixture of head voice. He brought great character to the role, yet was not too over the top and sang the lullaby beautifully. Nutrice was sung by counter-tenor Garreth Romain who managed to make the small role into something more, and he also joined Kimber and Jack Harberd in singing Seneca's familiars.

Monteverdi: L'incoronazione di Poppea - Clover Kayne (Virtu), Harriet Cameron (Amor), Betty Makharinsky (Fortuna), Theano Papadaki (Poppea) - HGO at Jackson's Lane Theatre (Photo: Julian Guidera)

Not only was Jack Harberd was the third familiar, but he also contributed a wonderfully sleazy Lucano. Here, Lucano was a soldier having a whale of a time as Protopas's Nerone indulged in a bit of slumming. Harberd's weary and bored soldier was a feature of the production from the opening scene, where he was joined by Brennan Alleyne, the two giving us vivid cameos. And Alleyne also popped up throughout the evening in equally strongly etched moments.

Emily Beech was a charming female Valetto. She gave her scene with Saywell's Seneca with great relish and a deal of naughtiness. The flirting between Beech's Valetto and Kristin Ammattil's Damigella was a lovely moment of lightness, but we should not forget that their beautiful yet brief duet seems to provide a pre-echo of the work's final duet. A good reason for not cutting it.

The continuo of viola da gamba, harp, theorbo and harpsichord/organ had the lion's share of the instrumental work. Under Seb Gillot's discreet but effective direction, the recitative and arioso sections of the work flowed admirably and enable to the singers to bring a real feeling of engagement and impulse to the drama. The string ensemble contributed plenty of vivid ritornelli and such was the musicianship of all concerned that we felt no lack at all for the more highly coloured orchestrations.

Monteverdi: L'incoronazione di Poppea - HGO at Jackson's Lane Theatre (Photo: Julian Guidera)

L'incoronazione di Poppea is a long work. We were in the theatre for some three hours, and in this time Monteverdi and his librettist, Giovanni Francesco Busenello, fit in a great deal of material. Yet cast and players all held our attention vividly and there was scarcely a dramatic thread lost.

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