THE Maltings car park may seem an unlikely venue for a theatre production, but in the midst of the arts festival, you should always expect the unexpected. The darkened site, as it turned out, was ideally suited for transformation into a crime scene, enabling British Renaissance vocal ensemble I Fagiolini to perform their polyphonic crime drama Betrayal.

Conceived and directed by John La Bouchardière, the production is based on the madrigals of 16th Century composer Carlo Gesualdo, whose expressive music is thought to have been influenced by an inner torture after he brutally murdered his first wife and her lover.

Armed only with a small torch, members of the audience could were permitted to wander between the six singers and dancers who had paired off to form individual dramatic scenes.

Each singer incanted a haunting melody to their dancing partner whose moves were cleverly choreographed to convey intimacy and violence.

Around the walls were pin boards, made to look like a police investigation, with photographs of individuals and objects, including murder weapons, and translated texts from the composer’s madrigals. White chalk body outlines on the car park floor denoted the spot where each of the six dancers would meet their end in six individual, savage murders.

With chilling classical singing and expressive contemporary dancing, this immersive music theatre brought something fresh to the city.

Christine Stock