Birmingham Opera Company has always challenged its audiences. Finding the venue is a first hurdle. When knowledge of Birmingham’s repurposed factories, skating rinks, ballrooms and leisure centres is sketchy, the only proof of arrival is the equally uncertain group huddled outside a shuttered building in an empty street. Minutes before start time, doors are flung open on to a bright hub of activity. Even the most shy, leave-me-alone visitor is pulled into proceedings.
Their latest production was The Decision (Die Massnahme), the 1930 agitprop cantata by Bertolt Brecht (text and lyrics) and Hanns Eisler (music), in the standard translation by John Willett. Cast members, kitted head to toe in red, thrust red baseball caps or scarves into our hands, as well as biscuits and drinks. Join the party, was the message, the wordplay immediately evident. Brecht and Eisler’s short drama – propulsive, episodic, wearyingly didactic – explores how the actions of an individual can threaten the collective and lead to violence. Four agitators kill a young comrade, then defend their deed. The scale is modest: one singer/speaker (the versatile Wendy Dawn Thompson), three actors, small orchestra and a chorus – of any size – which has to sing or recite the rousing songs that shape the drama.
