The Apothecary

A chamber opera

Composer: Amy Crankshaw

Librettist: Clare Best

Paris, 1785 – the eve of the French Revolution. Madeleine feels tortured by the serial infidelity of her lover François, but finds solace and fascination in the apothecary’s shop with its seductive rows of coloured glass bottles. Perhaps she can solve her problems with the help of poisons and remedies, and with advice dispensed by the apothecary himself…

The Apothecary:

Film of the 2021 production at Silk Street theatre, Barbican

Quotes from reviews:

‘What remedies are you preparing today?’ asks Madeleine (Olivia Boen), hopeful that the apothecary (Adam Maxey) might cure her of the tortures inflicted by the infidelity of her lover François (Thando Mjandana). Enthralled by the potion proffered, Madeleine later surprises her alchemist by bringing about her own, potent chemical reaction. Thus, Clare Best’s and Amy Crankshaw’s The Apothecary continues the long-running operatic trope of obsession, passion, poison. The Stravinskian wit and energy of the score sharply enhances the mood of subterfuge and sensuality, while director John Ramster’s appreciation of wry period decorum brings a neat irony to proceedings. But alongside the raw realism of the quasi-cinematic soundworld, Crankshaw gives the young cast rich vocal lines to enjoy. Boen relishes the dramatic expansiveness of Madeleine’s outbursts, Mjandana – tickled by his mistress’s feathers – soars to aphrodisiacal heights, and Maxey once again proves himself a masterful merger of the comic and the tragic, his lovely bass-baritone strong and full of character.’

Claire Seymour in Opera, August 2021.

‘Superbly engaged and engaging’

Robert Hugill

Photos: Guildhall School of Music & Drama