SUTCo’s Amadeus – 24 April 2026, University Drama Studio
Review by Claire Stanley.
An impressive production of ‘Amadeus’ tonight at the Sheffield University Drama Studio directed by (James Platt). Written by Peter Schaffer this is a drama exploring the intense rivalry between the composer Antonio Salieri and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Although the script is overly long, all cast members never dropped their energy and delivered a fluid piece with polished performances.
The play opens with Old Salieri (Andrew Hurrell) confessing to the audience that he murdered Mozart decades earlier. Hurrell captures the maturity of this character and gives an arresting most excellent portrayal.He commands the stage and had every patron in raptures at his storytelling. During his narrative there are flashbacks to his younger self (Luke Hookham) as he recounts how his envy of Mozart got the better of him. Hookham is a confident eloquent Young Salieri and is as word perfect as his older guise. His delivery is clear and he conveys the conflict he feels when he realises that his compositions for the Emperor Joseph II are inferior to the sublime work of Mozart. His monologues are animated and dominating. The valet and the cook of Salieri’s residence (Caitlin Wood) and (Wrenna Clarke) respectively, play key device roles in fuelling Salieri’s unease by feeding gossipy news of Mozart and his work and love interests. They make a great team and convey this mischief with relish.
Emperor Joseph II (Eddie Edward’s-White) is represented via a fantastic stage presence, stealing our gaze and attention. They play this character with chipper and spirit. Mozart (Abigail Wright) has a vulgar persona so one can see how many in Vienna at that time, might have thought him arrogant at his own genius and that this would annoy any one of his peers. Wright captures this crassness really well. She has a smirk and cockiness that is consistent throughout, the portrayal is amusing as a result, -great to watch. In addition her interactions with the character of her wife, Constance Weber (Lilia Harnett) are convincing. The engagement between these two are enhanced by Harnett’s portrayal who gives Constance a lively edge.The set design was beffiting, chairs for the supporting cast when not in dialogue and a piano centre stage. This gave room for each performer to roam the stage and fill it (as they all did) and for the audience to focus upon their delivery.
One cannot witness the drama of ‘Amadeus’ without mentioning the music. It came in short periodic snapshots to illustrate both Mozart’s great accomplishments and Salieri’s mediocrity. The orchestra of violins, cello, flute, piccolo, clarinet and piano was directed perfectly by Charlotte Joos, each instrument played beautifully. Every cast member tonight should be proud. The supporting roles of Van Swieten (Jacob Bennett), Orsino Rosenberg (Roberto Rowinski) and Count Von Strack (Immy Eyre) were performed to a matching high standard of their counterparts, the play had clearly been rehearsed well and held audience attention the whole time. My huge congratulations to the crew and production team who enabled such a slick production.
