Le roi carotte

"Le roi carotte" resulted from a collaboration between Jacques Offenbach (music) and Victorien Sardou (libretto). It is one of the lesser-known works by Offenbach. It has been neglected by history not because it is bad - it is actually quite good - but because it demands huge efforts in terms of costs, costumes and stagecraft. There's also a question of length : a performance of the full, unabridged version is said to take half a day. Consequently it takes an enormous amount of pluck in order to tackle this sprawling, gargantuan creation.

What we've got here is a modern adaptation plus abbreviation, which wisely reduces the running time of this opéra-bouffe-féerie to more normal lengths. The main plot deals with a weak and incompetent prince who is ousted by... an XXL carrot. While the usurper carrot rules, the prince desperately seeks to redress the situation. The whole is doused in liberal amounts of magic, sleight-of-hand and fantasy, complete with witches and enchanted princesses. At one point the action consists of a voyage back into time to a soon-to-be-destroyed Pompeii. (Why Pompeii ? Because !)

It's an outstanding production where everything shines : the singing, the acting, the costumes, the sets, the stagecraft. (The costumes and make-up of the carrot king and his followers are particularly impressive.) Offenbach's music still ravishes and Sardou's wit still sparkles, for instance when satirizing the kind of all-round education for girls provided by a city like Paris. "Le roi carotte" also satirizes political opportunism, pointing out that many successful courtiers and many successful politicians owe their careers to an ability to turn like wind vanes.

Much recommended.