The Cunning Little Vixen, Hawkes Bay NZ, 2022

The Cunning Little Vixen

23rd July 2022
Toitoi, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand.

Review by Rob Harbers. Photography by Hayley Munro.

For the 2021 iteration of the Hawkes Bay Arts Festival, an as-ever ambitious programme of events was planned. However, in the way of many events around that time, and since, plans were then knocked sideways, leading to the deferral of a number of events. It was promised at the time that all of the deferred events would be restored when circumstances were more amenable, and thus was formed the Hawkes Bay Arts Festival “Taster Series”. This is comprised of most of the deferred events, taking place over a period of a few weeks from late July to mid-August, roughly 2 months ahead of the Festival proper for 2022. The season kicks off with the Festival Opera production of Leos Janacek’s “The Cunning Little Vixen”, also the first time an opera has been performed in Toitoi, aka the Hastings Opera House, for over a decade.

Festival Opera is one of the arms of the Prima Volta Charitable Trust, whose tagline is “Finding Voices, Shaping Futures”. The trust aims to help build happier, healthier and thriving communities through music, and does so through a number of initiatives, all with a common thread of introducing youth to the benefits of music and performance. As such, the opera productions provide valuable opportunity to experience the range of disciplines involved in presenting a completed show to the public.

And so to the show itself. The tale commences with the entrance of the gamekeeper, played by Samuel McKeever. On a hot summer afternoon, he dozes in the forest, attracting the attention of the animals, in particular the vixen, performed with vulpine grace by Joanna Foote. Students of Project Prima Volta fill the roles of the various animals, their evocative costumes bringing much to the production. Waking to the sight of the vixen, he traps her and takes her home, thinking she would be a good pet for his children-but inevitably his plans go awry. After first attacking one of the children, and then disposing of the family’s chickens, she escapes back to the forest. The remainder of the tale depicts the unfolding lives of both the gamekeeper and the vixen.

The gamekeeper’s principal interactions are with the Schoolmaster, the Parson and the Poacher, all three roles performed by graduates of PPV (Lila LJ Crichton, Tomairangi Henare, and Faamanu Fonoti-Fuimaono respectively), showing the value of the programme in developing the voices of the future.

The vixen, after meeting the Fox (Anna Pierard) whelps numerous cubs, played by the youthful members of Festival Opera Junior, who bring a palpable enthusiasm to their appearance, clearly relishing the opportunity to put in to practice the performance skills they’ve been learning.

Overall, this is an impressive production, bringing Opera back to its home in the Bay, while providing the chance for stars of the future to experience the magic of the stage. In its scale and ambition it shows the potential of the venue to its fullest, and whets the appetite for both the remaining Taster Series shows, and the Festival itself. A worthy (in many senses) vessel to carry forward the Festival vision, and a credit to all involved!

Were you there at Toitoi for this magnificent artist? Or have you seen The Cunning Little Vixen performed live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!

_{Note: Ambient Light was provided passes to review and photograph this concert. As always, this has not influenced the review in any way and the opinions expressed are those of Ambient Light’s only. This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase a product using an affiliate link, Ambient Light will automatically receive a small commission at no cost to you.}

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