Stuart MacRae The Devil Inside, The Peacock Theatre, London

Extract

History offers us many examples of successful collaborations between librettists and composers (the Da Ponte–Mozart, Boito–Verdi, Hofmannsthal–Strauss pairings, to name just a few), and novelist Louise Welsh and composer Stuart MacRae's new opera, The Devil Inside, offers further evidence that equal partnerships between creative contributors in an opera can yield impressive results. The Devil Inside is the pair's third collaborative venture, and their second co-commission from Scottish Opera and Music Theatre Wales; further continuity comes in the form of their creative team – director Matthew Richardson, conductor Michael Rafferty, set and costume designer Samal Blak and lighting designer Ace McCarron, all familiar from their previous opera, Ghost Patrol – resulting in a noticeable synergy of music, drama and language in this production worthy of a wide audience.