Revenge, mistaken identity and marital infidelity — these are the essential ingredients of many a play and opera. But few, arguably, have served them up with such liberal helpings of wit and sparkle as Johann Strauss, and Die Fledermaus remains as popular now as when it was first produced in Vienna in 1874.

Opera della Luna’s ensemble version — seen at the Cornerstone, Didcot, last year, and now coming to the Playhouse — captures all that effervescence but with a fresh, contemporary feel, including a new translation by the company’s founder and artistic director, Jeff Clarke, and new musical arrangements by Tony Britten.

“We decided to make Eisenstein an investment banker, and make his crime being caught with drugs,” explains Jeff. “He is a heavy drinker so is sent to a rehab clinic, instead of going to prison as in the original, where his crime was supposed to be insulting a policeman, which always seemed a bit far-fetched to me. Adele is the Eisensteins’ cleaner, not their maid, but otherwise the story still works fine. We made it Halloween because it tied in with the bat.”

The new translation helps to emphasise the modern feel.

“It gives a distinct OdL style to our work. It also means the piece could say what I wanted it to say, and make it work for our size and our ideas. And it’s exciting to do something new!”

Some of the language is a bit risqué — so was Jeff at all worried about how audiences would react?

“I was concerned,” he admits. “When we opened it at Poole last year I asked the management to sit in on the dress rehearsal and advise me. They were very happy with it and had no problems with the language. Any swearing really is very minor, so I don’t think there’s anything to make a fuss about.

“We want it to be realistic in its portrayal of modern young married affluent couples — and they don’t go around saying ‘oh dash’ and ‘oh golly’. We wanted it to have the feel of a modern TV sitcom, and so the language is not different to what you would expect on that.”

Any anxieties about the production were soon dispelled when the opening season received rave reviews from both audience and press.

“We were the critics’ choice in Opera Now, and their reviewer Robert Thickness wrote most enthusiastically about the show. There were many other rave local reviews, too.

“When we played Didcot last year a member of the audience wrote in the comments book: ‘At last! Operetta for the under 40s’.”

Perhaps surprisingly, Die Fledermaus has not been high on Jeff’s ‘thing-to-do’ list, but he has no regrets about adding it to the company’s mounting portfolio.

“It’s not one I’ve been wanting to do, but it is one of the ‘big three’ non-G&S operettas, and we have done The Merry Widow, so it was always a title I thought we should do at some stage. Our previous tour booker trailed it as a title to a number of venues we visit regularly and there was a lot of interest in it and it was clear it was going to sell, so somehow before I knew it we were doing it.

“It’s not an operetta that appealed to me all that much — I think I was allergic to all the frilly frock productions — but now I have worked on it and discovered the real piece underneath some of the nonsense, I love it.”

Interestingly, the opera takes Jeff back to his professional roots.

“It was the first show I worked on when I had decided to pursue opera as a career,” he recalls. “I was taken on by the director Anthony Besch as his assistant and the first show we did was Die Fledermaus at Sydney Opera House with Joan Sutherland.”

Opera della Luna’s production may not compete with the grandeur of Sydney Opera House, but it is sure to be delivered with bucketfuls of style and panache by a cast that includes many OdL regulars.

Resident patter man Simon Butteriss takes over the role of the decadent, Champagne-swilling Prince Orlofsky; otherwise the cast is exactly as for Didcot last year.

“Andy Morton and Philip Cox reprise their hilarious double act as Eisenstein and Frank, both pretending to be French. Stephen Svanholm is Falke — he was a rock singer before changing direction and pursuing a career as an opera singer, so he is a nicely dangerous Falke.

“Lisa Anne Robinson again plays Rosalinde, Helen Massey is Adele and Gareth Morris is Alfred.”

After an absence of just over three years, Jeff is looking forward to the company’s return to the Playhouse. “I gather it’s nearly sold out, so that is very exciting. It’s always a treat to be able to perform close to home.”

lDie Fledermaus is at the Oxford Playhouse on Thursday, January 21. Box office: 01865 305305.Revenge, mistaken identity and marital infidelity — these are the essential ingredients of many a play and opera. But few, arguably, have served them up with such liberal helpings of wit and sparkle as Johann Strauss, and Die Fledermaus remains as popular now as when it was first produced in Vienna in 1874.

Opera della Luna’s ensemble version — seen at the Cornerstone, Didcot, last year, and now coming to the Playhouse — captures all that effervescence but with a fresh, contemporary feel, including a new translation by the company’s founder and artistic director, Jeff Clarke, and new musical arrangements by Tony Britten.

“We decided to make Eisenstein an investment banker, and make his crime being caught with drugs,” explains Jeff. “He is a heavy drinker so is sent to a rehab clinic, instead of going to prison as in the original, where his crime was supposed to be insulting a policeman, which always seemed a bit far-fetched to me. Adele is the Eisensteins’ cleaner, not their maid, but otherwise the story still works fine. We made it Halloween because it tied in with the bat.”

The new translation helps to emphasise the modern feel.

“It gives a distinct OdL style to our work. It also means the piece could say what I wanted it to say, and make it work for our size and our ideas. And it’s exciting to do something new!”

Some of the language is a bit risqué — so was Jeff at all worried about how audiences would react?

“I was concerned,” he admits. “When we opened it at Poole last year I asked the management to sit in on the dress rehearsal and advise me. They were very happy with it and had no problems with the language. Any swearing really is very minor, so I don’t think there’s anything to make a fuss about.

“We want it to be realistic in its portrayal of modern young married affluent couples — and they don’t go around saying ‘oh dash’ and ‘oh golly’. We wanted it to have the feel of a modern TV sitcom, and so the language is not different to what you would expect on that.”

Any anxieties about the production were soon dispelled when the opening season received rave reviews from both audience and press.

“We were the critics’ choice in Opera Now, and their reviewer Robert Thickness wrote most enthusiastically about the show. There were many other rave local reviews, too.

“When we played Didcot last year a member of the audience wrote in the comments book: ‘At last! Operetta for the under 40s’.”

Perhaps surprisingly, Die Fledermaus has not been high on Jeff’s ‘thing-to-do’ list, but he has no regrets about adding it to the company’s mounting portfolio.

“It’s not one I’ve been wanting to do, but it is one of the ‘big three’ non-G&S operettas, and we have done The Merry Widow, so it was always a title I thought we should do at some stage. Our previous tour booker trailed it as a title to a number of venues we visit regularly and there was a lot of interest in it and it was clear it was going to sell, so somehow before I knew it we were doing it.

“It’s not an operetta that appealed to me all that much — I think I was allergic to all the frilly frock productions — but now I have worked on it and discovered the real piece underneath some of the nonsense, I love it.”

Interestingly, the opera takes Jeff back to his professional roots.

“It was the first show I worked on when I had decided to pursue opera as a career,” he recalls. “I was taken on by the director Anthony Besch as his assistant and the first show we did was Die Fledermaus at Sydney Opera House with Joan Sutherland.”

Opera della Luna’s production may not compete with the grandeur of Sydney Opera House, but it is sure to be delivered with bucketfuls of style and panache by a cast that includes many OdL regulars.

Resident patter man Simon Butteriss takes over the role of the decadent, Champagne-swilling Prince Orlofsky; otherwise the cast is exactly as for Didcot last year.

“Andy Morton and Philip Cox reprise their hilarious double act as Eisenstein and Frank, both pretending to be French. Stephen Svanholm is Falke — he was a rock singer before changing direction and pursuing a career as an opera singer, so he is a nicely dangerous Falke.

“Lisa Anne Robinson again plays Rosalinde, Helen Massey is Adele and Gareth Morris is Alfred.”

After an absence of just over three years, Jeff is looking forward to the company’s return to the Playhouse. “I gather it’s nearly sold out, so that is very exciting. It’s always a treat to be able to perform close to home.”

  • Die Fledermaus is at the Oxford Playhouse on Thursday, January 21. Box office: 01865 305305.