Charles Court Opera and the King's Head Theatre Present THE MAGIC FLUTE
By: BWW News Desk May. 05, 2017
The King's Head Theatre's associate company, Charles Court Opera, returns after their successful and critically acclaimed, sell-out boutique pantomime Pinocchio last Christmas with The Magic Flute. Originally commissioned by the Iford Arts Festival, this limited five-week season is the London premiere and the first ever pub opera production of Mozart's fantastical tale.
Here transposed to the South American Jungle, Charles Court Opera's production is full of enchanting puppetry, magic and witty surprises. The King's Head Theatre is committed to making opera accessible and affordable, and this production will be suitable for all ages.
Charles Court Opera are an associate company of the King's Head Theatre and for the past two years have staged their critically acclaimed Christmas pantomime at the venue (weird, wildly creative and wholly entertaining
Matthew Kellett and Claire Lees are reprising their roles from the original production and Matt RJ Ward and Jennifer Begley are performing with the company again after appearing in other productions (full casting below).
Charles Court Opera first worked at the King's Head Theatre in 2010 with Gilbert & Sullivan's The Mikado and went on to stage several operettas. Their take on The Pirates of Penzance, first performed at the King's Head Theatre in 2012, was met with critical acclaim.
In 2015, Charles Court Opera became an associate company and began to stage their wildly successful boutique pantomimes at the venue. The Artistic Director of the King's Head Theatre, Adam Spreadbury-Maher, invited them to form part of his 2017 opera season. The Magic Flute is their first full opera at the venue.
The King's Head Theatre is renowned for its radical reinventions of classic operas, from the reality TV set Cosí fan tutte, innovatively staged in rep with Louis Nowra's play Cosi, to the intense reinterpretation of La bohéme with a cast of four updated to the contemporary artist community of London, to the updated Madam Butterfly set in a joeshi-kosei café.
On the production, director, John Savournin, said: We are delighted to be bringing our production of The Magic Flute to London, I'm excited to be revisiting a production that we're very proud of."
The production is the second of the King's Head Theatre's 2017 opera season, which kicked off with Madam Butterfly directed by Paul Higgins. This autumn Puccini's searing thriller, Tosca, is set in occupied Paris in 1944. Lovers Tosca and Cavaradossi give refuge to a political prisoner and find themselves ensnared in the machinations of the tyrannical head of the Paris Gestapo. It will be directed by the King's Head Theatre's Artistic Director Adam Spreadbury-Maher with a new libretto from the director and Becca Marriott.
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