Beren Fidan as Lucia

Barefoot Opera reimagines Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor for a 14 night tour

HOT’s  Judy Parkinson will be wearing her best cocktail gown and accessorised to the nines for this year’s Barefoot Opera production of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor opening at St John the Evangelist in St Leonard’s.

Barefoot Opera returns to St Leonard’s this autumn with its most ambitious tour to date – a bold new production of Gaetano Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor – an iconic romantic tragedy, reimagined with the company’s distinctive fusion of classical music, physical theatre and community participation.

Lucia premieres at St John the Evangelist Church, Pevensey Road, on Thursday 4 September and returns on Saturday 4 October as part of a 14-night tour across London and the South East.

Lucia is the tragic story of a woman whose heart and mind are shattered by coercion, power and a bitter family feud. This dramma tragico or tragic opera is in three acts and the libretto is loosely based on Sir Walter Scott’s 1819 novel The Bride of Lammermoor.

If you were wowed last year by Turkish soprano and rising star Beren Fidan, you won’t want to miss her reappearance in the leading role as Lucia. Be prepared to swoon as she cascades into madness, through a range of impossibly delicate, searing notes.  Phil Smith (Royal Opera, WNO) plays her tormented brother, with Jack Dolan as her forbidden lover and Eamonn Walsh as her ill-fated husband-to-be. This blend of emerging talent and seasoned professionals promises a fresh, electrifying operatic experience.

Barefoot will feature community choirs, school groups and local singers alongside professionals, in keeping with its ethos of inclusivity, ensuring each performance resonates with local voice and spirit. This is opera for everyone – not just to watch, but to participate in, with Voiceworks community choir taking to the stage on the September and October dates, when they will be joined by singers from Bexhill College.

Barefoot’s creative team – led by director Rosie Kat – brings a fresh new spin to the operatic classic, partnering with Hastings based mental health charity, Soundcastle, to integrate mental health awareness training into its creative process – a fitting initiative for an opera so rooted in psychological tension.

“Our treatment of the story has been extremely sensitive to the emotional traumas conjured within the narrative,” said Rosie Kat. “And how our audience may be triggered or drawn into those moments, which is why the whole cast and crew have undergone mental health awareness training so that we can support each other – and the audience – as they experience the intensity of emotions with us.

“At the opera’s emotional core is Lucia’s famed “mad scene” – a chilling moment of vocal and psychological unravelling, which is designed to draw the audience into the immediacy of the emotions. As well as being sensitive to the potential reactions felt by the audience, our performers also step outside the traditional realms of operatic convention by both singing and playing instruments on stage. We hope the effect will create a multi-sensory experience that is as intimate as it is epic.”

Laurence Panter reworks Donizetti’s score for the eclectic Barefoot Band – piano, accordion, saxophone and double bass, merging classical depth with the raw spontaneity of gypsy jazz. Designer Fenna de Jonge is in charge of Barefoot’s stage aesthetic.

TOUR DETAILS

• John the Evangelist’s Church, St. Leonards-on-Sea – Thursday 4 September (featuring Voiceworks)
• Arcola Theatre, London – Friday 5, Tuesday 9, Wednesday 10, Friday 12 September (featuring Hackney Voices on Wednesday 10 September)
• Glassbox Theatre, Gillingham – Thursday 18 September (featuring Chatham Postcode Choir)
• Swithuns, East Grinstead – Saturday 20 September (featuring East Grinstead Choral Society)
• Sara Thorne Theatre, Broadstairs – Sunday 21 September (featuring Coastal Choir)
• Ropetackle Theatre, Shoreham-on-Sea – Tuesday 23 September (featuring People’s Music Collective, Soundcastle)
• Rye Creative Centre, Rye – Thursday 25 September (featuring Marsh Choir)
• St Michael’s, Brighton – Saturday 27 September (featuring Harmonessence)
• Tower Theatre, Folkstone – Wednesday 1 October (featuring Folkstone Hythe Operatics and Dramatics Society)
• John the Evangelist’s Church, St. Leonards-on-Sea – Saturday 4 October (featuring Voiceworks and Bexhill College)

TICKETS

See website for details. www.barefootopera.com

Instagram: @barefootopera

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