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Don"t mess with The Shadow.

The Shadow is a new opera by composer Omar Daniel and librettist Alex Poch-Goldin about intrigue, desire and deception in Old Barcelona. It centers around Raoul, a postman who woos a young lady, lives beyond his means trying to impress her and gets chased down by his shadow.

The Shadow is more than just a metaphor in this case. It has been a tradition in old Barcelona to have a man exceptionally dressed follow around, or shadow, those who don"t pay their debts, shaming them into paying up, or exposing their secrets and making their lives miserable as recompense. In some cases, this practice still exists in Barcelona today, with an El Cobrador del Frac (The Debt Collector in Top Hat and Tails).

The opera, directed by Tom Diamond, isn"t your typical lavish, melodramatic production and it"s more pleasurable as a result. The intimate Berkely Street Theatre houses this show and most of the story sung in English. There"s a small flat-panel TV suspended above the left side of the stage, hovering over the seven-piece stage "pit orchestra" ensemble. It subtly provides translation surtitles to the Spanish-sung passages. In such a small venue, it"s a delight to see up close the facial expressions of the performers.