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ED2015 Musicals ED2015 Three To See ED2015 Week0 Edition
Three To See 2015: Opera
By Caro Moses | Published on Saturday 1 August 2015
From both the Fringe and the International Festival, ThreeWeeks Co-Editor Caro Moses tips something a little operatic.
The Last Hotel
A lot of people find opera to be a bit of an inaccessible beast, and I sometimes wonder if for many, that’s because the narratives are often (though by no means always) set in the past. Here’s one with distinctly modern themes from a contemporary, award winning Irish team. Playwright Enda Walsh and composer Donnacha Denehy have joined forces to create ‘The Last Hotel’, a chamber opera about life, death, duty and guilt, and I think it sounds amazing.
Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh, from 8 until 12 Aug
Orpheus and Eurydice (pictured)
The company behind this, About Turn, brought a very well received production of ‘Dido And Aeneas’ to the Fringe last year, so I don’t think it’s wrong of me to assume that their latest foray into classic opera is likely to be a safe bet, if that’s the kind of show you are looking for. This is a contemporary take on Gluck’s much-loved masterpiece, performed in English and accompanied by a chamber orchestra.
theSpace @ Venue45, from 15 until 29 Aug
Tutte Contro Verdi
I am a bit intrigued by this show, an operatic performance created from an original idea by feminist soprano Miren de Miguel. The show focuses on three operas based on Shakespeare plays, exploring the presence of misogyny and sexism, and the fact that the fate of female characters in opera usually involves great suffering. I suspect she will make some very interesting points with this unusual piece.
New Town Theatre, from 6 until 17 Aug
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