2012 marks the 200th anniversary of Robert Browning's birth, and Julian Lopez-Morillas solo performance honours the occasion with a presentation depicting one of the greatest romantic poets on the cusp of his seventieth year.
It centres on Browning’s relationship with the poet Elizabeth Moulton Barrett and their meeting in 1845, after a six month correspondence. The witty and passionate letters that they exchanged daily before their elopement the following year are justly celebrated.
Dramatic monologues including My Last Duchess, Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister, The Pied Piper of Hamelin, and excerpts from their poignant love letters are all played out with hearty emotion in both face and voice. Lopez-Morillas has a warm and inviting tone that helps conjure up the passion-filled emotions of Browning and Barrett’s relationship. Browning’s 1842 poem about the Pied Piper of Hamelin was delivered with such wit, half to the audience, half to imaginary characters, that they could almost have been in the room.
Fantasising about marrying and moving to Italy, there is a pure warmth to Browning’s letters, which is brought to the fore in this performance.
A sentimental and touching end is delivered with Barrett’s last words, as Browning publishes some of the final works of this great poet of the Victorian era. This true exploration of love is beautifully portrayed right to the very end.
