WHETHER you are a fan of Offenbach, Gluck or Natalie Haynes, Simon Butteriss’s new adaptation of the story of Orpheus, Euridice, Pluto, Jupiter et al for IfOpera is a delight.

One of four operas performed at the opening season of the company’s new home at Church Farm in Wingfield south of Frome, this re-telling is a bonkers (and bonking) romp through the Greek Myths, as our eponymous hero reluctantly makes his way into a very, very hot hell to bring back his hated wife Eurydice. As we all know, the gods (led by Jupiter, played here by the ever charming Mr Butteriss) were much given to disguising their deity and dropping in on unsuspecting mortals, leaving mewling reminders of their visits.

Jupiter’s much-wronged wife Juno, worn down by her husband’s infidelities, has taken on the role of Public Opinion, so CANCELLATION is high on her agenda. She doesn’t want the legendary lovers Orpheus and Eurydice to reveal their love is a sham, so when the lusty wife heads off after Pluto, disguised as a simple shepherd, to hell, Juno decides it will be to hell and back.

Throw in Mars, Bacchus, Diana, Mercury, a very androgynous Cupid and the wonderfully-named John Styx – a dog given to chasing and humping – and the stage is set for fun, frolics, lots of Offenbach and a twist of Christoph Willibald.

Subtlety is not in Mr Butteriss’s vocabulary, giving the usually-so-serious opera singers a chance to throw intense inhibition to the four winds. Robin Bailey seduces swathes of the audience in his devilish persona, with skin-tight black leather and curly tail. Susie Buckle’s Cupid is busy exchanging numbers with various eager viewers.

Harriet Eyley’s Eurydice is charmingly lusty, and her husband, as played by Joseph Doody, is a self-righteous and flirtatious hypocrite. On the hottest night of the year, Matthew Siveter had not one but two very hot costumes, worn together, to contend with, as his smelly canine stripped off to a body-suited Bacchus. Grainne Gillis is the stentorian Juno. Throw in Sam Marston’s Mercury and Katey Rylands’ Diana and the fun is complete, with fine singing (accompanied by the Bristol Ensemble conducted by Michael Waldron) and eye-wateringly energetic dancing on such a night.

Another Simon Butteriss triumph at IfOpera, and a lip-smacking foretaste of things to come.

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Photographs by Craig Fuller