Those present at the world premiere of Emmanuel Nunes’ Das Märchen last week will remember chiefly that it was long. Only those who did not leave at interval (at a generous guess, half of the audience) will remember quite how long.

Presumably even the planning department of Lisbon’s Teatro Nacional de São Carlos did not realise what it was getting, which is why it programmed an 8.00pm start. It was just after 1.00am when the curtain descended on this vast and gruelling epic. The going had been tough.