Highly enjoyable, “The Francis Bacon Opera” is a 2012 musical adaptation by the experimental composer Stephen Crowe of a 1985 Melvyn Bragg interview with the then controversial painter Francis Bacon: a premise which excited me. And it did indeed deliver all the wonderful atonal music and absurdist dialogues I expected. A parodic take on the banality and conventionality of interview, the play is an ingenious redelivering of the same lines of this actual interview in sing-song.

David Rice on the piano gave an awesome performance: the music itself was slightly repetitive, but much better than the horrors one can encounter in contemporary opera—the play is actually more of an operetta, sung in the parody-style of Richard Cheese. The two tenors, Daniel Lewis and Gary Rushton were both capable of achieving hilarious crescendos in their maddening exchanges.

Everyone in the audience was having a great time, some laughing hysterically. But then again, there were only 10-15 people in the audience: it is a delight for the few who can appreciate its subtle jokes and can sympathize with the genius-artist’s absurdist philosophy. Bacon’s “optimism in nothingness” or “images brought by chaos” are met with hilarious annoyance by Bragg in his search for an order and conformity. The impression of Bragg was an incredibly entertaining to the point. He exasperatingly tries to conduct the ideal interview with the artist as he had preconceived it, an artist who had a goal behind the painting, who premeditated or had an academic training. The interview, which takes place in the Tate Gallery in London, is made up of this constant blow between two irreconcilable ways of viewing the world.

Yet this polarity was sometimes tryingly repetitive: for such a short piece (about 40 minutes long), it dragged on. After 15 minutes, the audience already understands Bacon: the message in his art is that there is no message, yet this continuously is met with shock by Bragg. What could have turned into monotony was saved by the excellent musical score, which was sometimes substituted by pure dialogue, creating an interesting dynamism and flow. Though sometimes I thought Daniel Lewis was a more authentic version of Bragg than Bragg himself, Gary Rushton seemed much more like a forgetful student than a mad drunk. He frequently forgot words, but at least this fact was so consistent that it was incorporated into the thread of the dialogue. He does portray Bacon’s nonchalance very well, but perhaps was carried away with it. In the actual TV interview, Bacon counterbalances this with his poise and absolute assertiveness which here was lacking.

A tremendously enjoyable dialogue, accompanied by a brilliant pianist and a minimalist set design. I highly recommend “The Francis Bacon Opera” for this week; especially during revision period, a short late show may be one’s only chance to experience some art.