Amadeus

A distinctive adaption with innovative use of the stage and especially the orchestra, which is driven by Msamati´s Salieri. Sometimes he is way too theatrical/dramatic, but that might be due to the fact that he is performing in front of a large audience and the camera might have been too close. At first glance (as well as at second and third glance) the running time is excessively long, but the production never makes you feel bored. And there´s a reason for that, as the main themes based on Shaffer are used really well, although in this case we need to wait almost half an hour for Godot/Amadeus to appear. And the waiting time might have been even longer, because the stumbling block is Mozart played by Gillen. Even though he fit Wolfgang's character really well, he was not able to handle the balance of eccentricity, madness, vulnerability and genius. He's just a really (I mean really) annoyingly overly dramatic imp who only makes faces and there is no tragedy at all. He is not a match for Msamati on the stage, not even remotely. All in all, this theater performance is very good but the above-mentioned shortcomings cast a shadow upon it. (19.07.2020)