White petals fall from the ceiling, while a solo voice reverberates eerily through the dark passages of Newcastle's iconic castle keep..."remember me!". The first time in its 800 year history that opera has been performed within its ancient walls... Harlekin Studio Opera presents Dido and Aeneas in Newcastle's Historic Cultural Core.
It was our absolute pleasure to perform Purcell's well loved opera in such a deeply atmospheric place. The castle is a technically demanding venue and the accessibility is unchanged since Henry II commissioned it in 1172. But, our audiences braved the challenge of ascending the stone steps to the great hall where they were delighted by a performance like no other. One audience member remarked "you've brought something to the area that has never been seen before".
Synopsis
Personnel
Cast
While all of our cast gave spectacular performances... many in their first ever complete opera roles, special mention goes to young Freddie Scott making his opera debut at age 15 in the role of Sailor. He had the whole company hohoho-ing to 'come away fellow sailors' and certainly won the audience over too. We wish Freddie every success in all of his future stage performances.
Freddie is pictured right with a replica sword provided for our production by the team at Newcastle Castle to lend an air of authenticity to our cutting edge work (#sorrynotsorry!).
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