After a summer in which audiences flocked to festival 2013, it’s tour time for Glyndebourne which sees the company taking a fine selection of shows on the road.
The company is the only one in the UK hosting fully-staged (same as the grown-ups) performances for schools and this year there is an additional twist you might be interested in. Encore Week is a bespoke programme of dedicated family events happening at Glyndebourne for the first time. The focus is on younger opera goers and is intended to develop the next generation of lovers of the art at subsidised ticket prices. There will be activities for all ages from face painting to talks and story-telling and screenings, as well as interactive performances plus fully staged opera at subsidised prices.
Encore Week shows include a new commission for children as young as seven, plus dedicated opera performances for the under 30s and a number of additional schools performances with highly subsidised tickets (£3 plus).
The performances for schools travel across the country alongside the tour, so regional locations will also host a series of schools performances for teachers and their pupils not to mention a gorgeous online resource (www.operaland.org) and workshops at Milton Keynes, Norwich, Canterbury, Plymouth and Stoke-on-Trent, as well as Glyndebourne itself. For more information, go to http://glyndebourne.com/schools
Look out for this autumn gem: the Royal Opera House production of The Wind in the Willows directed and choreographed by Will Tuckett.
This perennial tale will be keeping us warm in an eight week run when it transfers to the Duchess theatre. Oh we all know the story (poop poop!) but did you know that former poet laureate Sir Andrew Motion wrote the narration to accompany Will’s choreography? Now you do.
Featuring the music of Edwardian composer George Butterworth, the action is set to a score by Martin Ward. Tickets are on sale now for the show which runs from December 11 to February 1st.
Theatre Royal Winchester is one of the stops on the tour for the minimalist, award-winning opera company Opera Up Close’s performance of Puccini’s Tosca.
A cast of just five singers and a live trio of piano, clarinet and cello, bring Opera Up Close’s trademark intimacy to this tale of love, lust and the corrupting influence of power.
Set during the cold War, in this version the heroine, Tosca is living in the shadow of the Berlin Wall. She is the toast of the elite until her lover Cavaradossi helps a political prisoner to escape and she is left to the mercy of Stasi chief Scarpia. Puccini’s taut drama is given radical, yet affectionate reworking, set in the dying days of the East German regime, stripping the story to its most essential elements.
For further information or to book tickets, please call the box office on 01962 840440 or book online at www.theatreroyalwinchester.co.uk
Akram Khan is one of the most celebrated and respected dance artists today. In just over a decade he has created work that has contributed significantly to the cultural arts in the UK and abroad. His website is breath-taking (www.akramkhancompany.net) and may just inspire you to check out his UK performance at Aldeburgh in November. Khan, born in London of Bangladeshi descent, is renowned for creating imaginative, highly accessible and relevant productions such as DESH, Vertical Road, Gnosis and zero degrees.
Now he is set to continue his inspirational work with young people as the guest artistic director of the National Youth Dance Company. He takes over the mantel from Jasmin Vadimon who completed a sell-out debut performance with the company of (inbetween).
Khan will create new work to be performed by the company in 2014 and said: ‘The positive role of the arts in our society is fundamental in providing young people with the skills they need to succeed in any walk of life.’
NYDC is based at Sadler’s Wells, which aims to work with the brightest young dance talent from across England. Those picked to join the company will have a chance to work with a range of inspirational teachers and choreographers to learn, create and perform original work, drawing on a number of dance techniques.