A romp of a one-act comic play set in Italy comes to town

With two acclaimed plays in less than a year, NUNi Productions - short for "Never Underestimate New ideas" - proved that, in "Mozart in Mischief" and "The Orpheus Schemata", they have more than just ideas: They know how to actualise them, while entertaining audiences.

Their latest play, an innovative production of Gaetano Donizetti's one-act comic opera "Il Campanello di Notte" ("The Night Bell") is further proof.

In Naples, elderly apothecary Don Annibale Pistacchio (bass William Lim) has just married young Serafina (soprano Monique Klongtruadroke), but their wedding night doesn't go as planned.

Enrico (baritone Saran Suebsantiwongse), Serafina's former lover, keeps ringing the night bell, showing up in various disguises, and asking from the unfortunate groom a preposterous list of prescriptions.

"Donizetti's works are not too difficult for young singers. We have many good baritones here, so that makes it conceivable for us. The music is really fun, and when I read the libretto for the first time I couldn't stop laughing.

"The opera is about an hour long so we decided to put in the intermezzo from Pergolesi's 'La Serva Padrona' to make it a complete evening and their stories fit each other very well, like two parallel plots.

"With that in mind, I thought of 'Alice in Wonderland' and the fact that the opera is set in a pharmacy and that there are certain kinds of drugs that do not treat your diseases, but make you forgetful or even go nuts. And then came the image of people with the same faces, and Enrico disguising himself as a rabbit."

This is NUNi's largest production to date, with 40 musicians from the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Yoko Takahashi, accompanying the action.

Buy your tickets now, leave your evening dress in your wardrobe, but make sure you bring your sense of humour.

XTRA

One round of bell chimes only

>> "Il Campanello" will be performed at 8 tonight at the Thailand Cultural Centre.

>> Tickets are Bt500, Bt700 and Bt1,000, and are available from Thaiticketmajor.

>> For more details, see www.NUNiProductions.com.