Tosca - King's Head Theatre
Preview by Lizzie Guilfoyle
OLIVIER Award-winning OperaUpClose in association with Malmö Opera will premiere a new production of Puccini’s Tosca at the King’s Head Theatre – from Tuesday, October 2 to Saturday, November 10, 2012.
Tosca is sensual, powerful, and vulnerable. Living in the shadow of The Berlin Wall, she is the toast of the GDR elite, until her lover Cavaradossi helps a political prisoner to escape, putting Tosca at the mercy of Stasi chief Scarpia.
Puccini’s tautest drama is given a radical yet affectionate re-working, set in the dying days of the East German Republic and stripping the story to its most essential elements.
A cast of just four singers and a trio of piano, clarinet and cello will bring OperaUpClose’s trademark intimacy and immediacy to this tale of love, lust, and the corrupting influence of power, while retaining all of the emotional impact of the original.
Tosca will be directed by Adam Spreadbury-Maher and be designed by Nina Fransson, with musical direction by Elspeth Wilkes, costumes by Jonathan Lipman and lighting by Richard Williamson.
OperaUpClose is dedicated to presenting new, difficult and classic operas in intimate spaces with world-class trained singers and directors, bringing opera to life for diverse audiences and to offer the extraordinary opportunity to experience the dramatic and musical event of opera up close.
La Bohème was the company’s first production, opening at The Cock Tavern Theatre in October 2009. It became the longest continuously performed opera in the UK and won the 2011 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Opera Production and the 2011 Whatsonstage.com Award for Best Off-West End Production.
In October 2010, OperaUpClose became the resident company at the King’s Head Theatre, where it has now produced several new opera productions, as well as two productions (a transfer of La Bohème and a new production of Don Giovanni) at Soho Theatre. La Bohème will play at Charing Cross Theatre for a three-month season from Tuesday, October 30, 2012.
Tickets: Previews: (October 2 to October 4 and October 7) all seats £10; October 5 and 6 and October 9 to November 10: £16 – £25 – available from the box office on 020 7478 0160 or online at www.kingsheadtheatre.com/.
Times: Tuesday to Saturday at 7.15pm; Sunday at 3pm.
The Great Gatsby Musical continues at the King’s Head Theatre until September 1, 2012. Also at the King’s Head Theatre: The Pirates of Penzance (September 4 to September 29, 2012).