Hyde: That Man Stephen Ward – Nova Music Opera Ensemble

   in Opera Now (Nov, 2017)
Thomas Hyde’s That Man Stephen Ward (2008) is another piece worthy of a place in the repertoire. A one-man show, it charts the rise and fall of the society osteopath who introduced Secretary of State John Profumo to Christine Keeler, a floozy who was also making her charms available to a Soviet spy at the height of the Cold War. The result was a major political scandal, followed by scapegoat Ward’s arrest, trial and consequent suicide in 1963. The opera is short and sparky, with George Vass leading the Nova Music Opera Ensemble through Hyde’s witty and spare score. Baritone Damian Thantrey is remarkably effective as Ward, in a tour …