Satyagraha I find a brilliant and very interesting work, and I found this production equally fascinating. From a technical standpoint, it is a disappointment, the video directing does at times have a skippy quality to it and the picture quality with its blurred image, grainy dark backgrounds, washed out colours and signs of wear(especially in Act 2 Scene 1) needed much more focused. However, the costumes and sets are highly elaborate and I enjoyed looking at them. The bright neon lights were a nice touch too. The staging is a very "everything but your kitchen sink" sort of staging, but apart from the odd moment where it does feel cluttered it is never dull. Some may find that this style doesn't fit exactly with Glass' very minimalist score, and that is understandable, but I liked seeing the mix of dancers, dwarfs and animals. Not sure though whether the television monitors worked for me. The chorus are outstanding, as is the conducting. The orchestra are on the most part impressive, the woodwind can run out of breath on the long repetitive phrases they have to do and it is not always well balanced, but the musicality, textures and sense of line are there. The performances are equally very well-done, there are a great many and nobody is bad without outshining one or the other. I am most familiar with Leo Goeke, I haven't always been a fan but alongside his Tom Rakewell in The Rake's Progress his performance as Gandhi 1 is one of his better ones. In conclusion, fascinating but the picture and video quality didn't do it justice in my opinion. 8/10 Bethany Cox
Review of Satyagraha
Satyagraha
(1983 TV Movie)
A fascinating production, if a letdown from a technical stand-point
20 October 2012