Lovers of opera and pubs can now indulge both simultaneously. The King's Head is a pub with a theatre in its back room, which is where this performance of Pagliacci took place. But the intermezzo was staged in the bar. Dancing to a crackly recording of Leoncavallo's surging romantic score, Sonya Cullingford and Symeon Kyriakopoulos wound their way around the punters to create a graceful and quietly erotic ballet.

The first act fell prey to predictable problems. This kind of opera demands vocal and physical gestures that only work at a certain distance. Trying to squeeze Leoncavallo's emotionally charged vocal writing on to the tiny stage put a strain on the soloists.

This also told on the acting, which at times was hollow. But when it came to Canio's Vesti la Giubba, at the end of the first act, something switched. Paul Featherstone's singing didn't improve exactly, but he reached inside himself and found what was necessary to convey the agony of a man tortured by having to conceal his grand passions under the mask of the clown.

The second act is about the actors' commedia dell'arte masks being torn away to reveal emotions underneath, and was better suited to the space. Anna Gregory's smart Punch and Judy-style production, based on her own loose adaptation of the libretto, turned most of the venue's limitations to her advantage. Katie Bird's Nedda had some impressive moments, but John-Colyn Gyeantey's sweet-toned Beppe was the vocal highlight. Also much to be praised was Danyal Dhondy's "orchestration" of the work for piano, cello and clarinet – a nicely coloured combination, and its extended lines didn't take up too much space.