Carmen @ The Citizens

Opera's ultimate girl from the wrong side of the tracks hits the rough side of Glasgow's river, and the collision makes for a heady mix and a crackling night's entertainment. The score, which contains maybe the world's most loved arias, is played crisp and punchy under the nimble direction of conductor Derek Clark, and the libretto as translated by Christopher Cowell loses little of the orginal's poetry.

But the passion and potency of every Carmen resides solely in its anti-heroine. A Carmen must be utterly seductive and all-powerful, and emerging artist Rebecca Afonwy-Jones is certainly up to the task. Eyes flashing and hips swinging, she effortlessly pulls the puppet-strings of all the men on stage. As for what she can do with her voice, let's say that if she isn't a big star in the opera firmament soon there should be a steward's enquiry.

Special mention for Michel de Souza as Carmen's alter macho Escamillo, and Claire Watkins as Micaela, the Madonna figure to her whore. In the inevitable final scene, Carmen's gypsy blood is spilled, and it's testament to the fine skills of male lead Robyn Lyn Evans that the vitality of the show doesnt die with her.