The Moderate Soprano - Hampstead Theatre
Preview by Lizzie Guilfoyle
Roger Allam, as Glyndebourne founder John Christie, stars in David Hare’s new play The Moderate Soprano, which runs at Hampstead Theatre (Main Stage) from October 23 to November 28, 2015.
I want to give my country a model of perfection…Nothing less. My country needs cheering up. I’m the man to do it.
Nobody can doubt John Christie’s passion or his formidable will: he wooed his opera singer wife with a determination befitting a man who won the Military Cross. Now, in 1934, this Etonian science teacher’s admiration for the works of Wagner leads him to embark on an ambitious project: the construction of an Opera House on his estate in Sussex.
But such is the scale of the enterprise that passion alone may not be enough. It’s only when a famous violinist is accidentally fogged in overnight in Eastbourne that Christie first hears word of a group of refugees for whom life in Germany is becoming impossible. Perhaps they can deliver Christie’s vision of the sublime – assuming of course they’re willing to cast his wife in the lead…
David Hare’s new play is the story of an intense love affair between unlikely bedfellows, and of the unrelenting search for artistic excellence in the face of searing scrutiny, sacrifice and war.
Three time Olivier Award winner Roger Allam returns to Hampstead Theatre following last year’s Seminar. His recent credits elsewhere include Henry IV Parts I & II and The Tempest (Shakespeare’s Globe) and Uncle Vanya (Chichester Festival Theatre).
Joining Allam in The Moderate Soprano are Nancy Carroll (as Audrey Mildmay), Paul Jesson (Dr Fritz Busch), Nick Sampson (Professor Carl Ebert) and George Taylor (Rudolf Bing).
The Moderate Soprano is directed by Jeremy Herrin, whose recent credits include the Olivier Award-winning and Tony nominated Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies (RSC/West End/Broadway), The Nether (Royal Court/West End) and This House (National Theatre).
David Hare returns to Hampstead Theatre following the sell out hit The Judas Kiss, starring Rupert Everett, which transferred to the West End in 2013. His award-winning plays include Skylight, Pravda and Behind The Beautiful Forevers.
The Moderate Soprano is designed by Rae Smith, with music by Paul Englishby, lighting by James Farncombe and sound by Tom Gibbons.
Also at Hampstead Theatre: Richard Eyre’s production of Ian Kelly’s Mr Foote’s Other Leg, with Simon Russell Beale, Joseph Millson and Dervla Kirwan (September 14 to October 17, 2015).