FROM THE ROH E-MAILING LIST

Welcome to ROH too!
Productions and events in the Linbury Studio Theatre, the Clore Studio Upstairs, the Vilar Floral Hall and all the spaces at the Royal Opera House. Performances for everyone to enjoy - students, families, children… everyone!

***********************

A new ROH2 production

The Wind in the Willows
By kind permission of the Kenneth Grahame Estate, Supported (2002) by UBS Warburg
Choreography by William Tuckett
Narration by Andrew Motion
Music by Martin Ward after George Butterworth

10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 20 December at 7pm
14 | 15 | 21 | 22 December at 7.30pm

Dance, song, verse, music and puppetry...
a complete theatrical experience.

Based on Kenneth Grahame’s timeless classic, William Tuckett has brought together a collection of unique talent to re-tell the adventures of Mole, Ratty, Badger and Toad. Starring Adam Cooper, Mathew Hart, Luke Heydon, Will Kemp, Pippa Gordon and guided by Sir Anthony Dowell as the narrator of the trials and misadventures of the hapless Toad, played out against a topsy-turvy backdrop of the familiar and the bizarre. Set to capture all of the darkness and delight of this enchanting tale, the Wind in the Willows promises to entertain and charm audiences from 5 to 105 as the Linbury Studio Theatre becomes the magical setting of the story.

£18.50 | £9.50 concessions incl. under 18’s
£6.50 under 12’s

ROH website link

*************************

Sophie | Stateless

11 January at 8pm | 12 January at 4pm

A double bill of brand new dance Choreographed by Cathy Marston, associate artist of the Royal Opera house.

Sophie – A collaboration between choreographer, film-maker, designer, composer and dancers, this newly created work based on William Stryon’s novel Sophie’s Choice coincides with the premiere by The Royal Opera of Nicholas Maw’s Sophie’s Choice. Essentially a portrait of Sophie, the ballet exists in the moment of her final choice – between life and death – and allows fragmented images from her past to swim round her as she makes this last decision. Projections melt in and out of live action, drawing parallels between the characters Sophie encounters, questioning the truth behind the stories she tells.

Stateless – Is a sextet performed to Rakhmaninoff’s Variations on a Theme of Chopin. Working with dancers of The Royal Ballet, Cathy Marston has chosen to choreograph a series of dances triggered by her studies of Sophie’s Choice and inspired by these haunting variations. She collaborates again with designer Jon Bausor, who creates an environment of simple metaphor, framing movement of lingering emotion.

£13.50 | £11 | £9 students | £3 standing

This is opera rather than dance, but it is an initiative from ROH2, headed by Deborah Bull and perhaps indicates similar possibilities for the dance world:

Opera House forges Welsh links
The Royal Opera House has found a Welsh partner. By Jon Gower, BBC online (Wales)

For the first time in its history the Royal Opera House in London has decided to set up a partnership - and it has chosen a small but distinguished Welsh company as its partner.

Music Theatre Wales will gain a London base from the deal and the Royal Opera House will be able to expand its range of 20th and 21st century small scale opera.

There are also plans for the two bodies to jointly commission new works.

Music Theatre Wales' artistic director, Michael McCarthy, is buoyed up by the fact that The Royal Opera House has chosen the Welsh company as its partner.

click for more