The Cunning Little Vixen is all kinds of surreal. Taking place in a folk-tale forest, we meet debonair, smoking foxes and prudish badgers amid a throng of twirling, tittering creatures. Throw into the mix a disenchanted forester, a lustful schoolmaster, a priest and a poacher, and you have a chaotic stage and a rather disorientating experience.

That’s not to say that Charlie Risius’ production wasn’t charming: Risius has evidently embraced the folkloric world of Janáček’s opera, and many of the creatures were brilliantly characterised by the performers. In particular, the on-stage chorus’ prim brood of chickens, clad in yellow gloves and black tutus, represented one of the funniest scenes of the show. At their best, Risius’ ensemble moments gave rise to evocative physical theatre, such as the elated dance of the forest creatures in the wedding scene, but less successful group scenes felt cluttered and confusing.

This may have been a result of an unclear aesthetic vision for the production. Costume-wise, some birds and insects shone ethereally with face-paints and shimmering materials; some small woodland creatures had stray patches of fur, and some less-easily-identifiable animals wore jeans. Budget constraints may prevent more elaborate outfits from being supplied, but this can usually be overcome with a tighter colour-scheme and some creativity. Equally, the bare-bones set of sheets and scaffolding couldn’t quite evoke the lushness of a forest-in-bloom, but it did serve the purposes of utility. Risius and assistant director Lizzie Schenk were able to create dog kennels, burrows, pubs and glades in turn, and the playful Vixen (Héloïse Werner) played hide-and-seek amidst the iron bars and curtains, using the raised platforms to give charismatic speeches.

Werner was a fervent performer, and her presentation of the spirited Vixen was incredibly endearing. Her first encounter with the Fox (Harriet Flower), as he smokes casually on a raised balcony, was almost a witty pastiche of Romeo and Juliet. The scenes between Flower and Werner were by far the highlight of the production as a whole: Flower slipped effortlessly between urbane chatter and soaring love songs and Werner’s nervous responses were touching and funny.

Other individual performances also deserve a mention: James Robinson’s lovesick schoolmaster and Michael Mofidian’s brooding parson were both consistently strong. It seems that Jack Lawrence-Jones had damaged his voice and required an off-stage vocal cover last night, but he coped admirably and his characterisation of the arrogant poacher, Harasta, was flawless. The Forester (Jonathan Hyde) was particularly memorable, and managed to captivate the audience with a powerful springtime lament in the final act.

Overall, this production was built around remarkably talented soloists, a stunning score and some excellent choreographed interludes by Helena Clark-Maxwell. The younger performers held their own with impressive vocal performances, and Risius’ staging never lost momentum. Unfortunately, the pseudo-industrial setting was just too cold for Janáček’s tale. The Cunning Little Vixen is a bittersweet journey into a bizarre world, but despite its many strengths, it fell short of being the enchanting woodland jaunt I was hoping for.