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Cosi Fan Tutte Collaboration with Opera Holland Park!

We are thrilled to announce that we have a pop up performance coming up this November in collaboration with Opera Holland Park! We are partnering with the lovely team at OHP to present a 25min section of our adaptation of Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte in the foyer of Chelsea & Westminster Hospital on Wednesday 15th November at 1.30pm. Usually OHP present a simple monthly concert of opera & classical songs here but we convinced them to try something a bit different!

Our Cosi Fan Tutte, first seen back in 2017, was the OffWestEnd Award Finalist for Best Opera Production and gained 5 star reviews from Operissima. With a modern English libretto by Joanna Turner (with new 2023 updates – because social media has changed since then don’t ya know!!) and a new piano arrangement by Leo Geyer, Constella Music as this won’t be a promenade performance but Chelsea & Westminster Hospital have a piano in their foyer!

So come join us on 15th November to see a revival of our Baseless Fabric adaptation in an exciting new space! We can’t wait to see you there!

What amazed me about the Baseless Fabric experience is how naturally this production fits into its locations, a testament to the scrupulous research work which must have gone on beforehand, as well as the quality of everyone’s performances.- , Operissima
This production is tremendous fun- , LondonTheatre1.com

 

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It’s our 5th Birthday!

We’re 5 years old! On 22nd December 2014 we nervously registered Baseless Fabric as an official company and set up a meeting with a business bank account manager. It was all a bit scarily official. So how do we do this then?! Run a company, make work in public spaces, engage with our local community…

It’s been a quite mental 5 years and we have learned such a lot both creatively and practically in working out how to make it all happen. We couldn’t have done it without your support.

A First Class Death (2015)

A First Class Death at VAULT Festival, A Secret Life with Theatre 503, Reunion & Dark Pony in South London libraries, street operas Drifting Dragons, Cosi Fan Tutte and Die Fledermaus, Mitcham Library drama workshops, countless Opera Taster Workshops for local schools & sessions with elderly groups, and recently also 2 parallel productions for schools offering young people a chance to engage, explore and be imaginative with opera over a 7 month project. Not to mention becoming a charity 4 years ago! Read more

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Why Audiences Love Street Opera

Our favourite thing about our street opera performances is seeing how audiences respond. We love that the unique Baseless Fabric style – where operas pop up unexpectedly on the high street, and move from location to location – excites audiences. It’s so thrilling to clearly see people enjoying the performance which you wouldn’t be able to see from the stage of a big opera house.

And when we announced our Die Fledermaus locations, we were delighted to find people reminiscing about our performances of Cosi Fan Tutte in 2017 & 2018. For example:

https://twitter.com/carolinefrmus/status/1148664968482557953

And: Read more

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Cosi Fan Tutte Pop-Up Performance!

Two girls catch the eye of two good looking guys across a crowded room at a party and fuelled by a couple of glasses of wine and having checked their make-up decide to go over and chat to them. A scene that happens all the time across many a crowded room. Except that this time our two girls were Fiordiligi and Dorabella singing a duet from Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte from Baseless Fabric’s new adaptation with arrangement by Leo Geyer and libretto by Joanna Turner.

Read more

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2017 A year in review

St Teresa’s Primary School opera workshop

It’s the start of a new year so it’s that time of year that gets you thinking about what you’ve achieved over the last year. We had a big year in 2017 with two massively successful productions – Cosi Fan Tutte and Reunion & Dark Pony – both of which included professional performances, workshops for young people, and for Cosi also sessions for the elderly, not to mention re-writing the music and libretto for the high street! We loved working with so many shops, cafes, supermarkets and libraries for performances, especially being part of National Libraries Week for our Reunion & Dark Pony production. Our Cosi Fan Tutte further embedded our work in our home borough of Merton, while Reunion & Dark Pony took us further across South London to Southwark, Lambeth and Wandsworth as well as our first performances in the new Merton Arts Space in Wimbledon Library.  Read more

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Transforming sleek city bankers to grungey surfers…

Wig used in the show – pre-transformation

-So, this is for you? 

The man in the wig shop was gesturing for me to try on the brunette wig he was holding in his hands.

-Oh no, it’s actually for a man, the director Joanna pitched in.

-For a man? Is he dressing up as a lady? Said the bemused wig vendor.

Joanna smiled and explained that she is putting on a new adaptation of Cosi Fan Tutte and in this version, our two suitors, Ferrando and Guglielmo –are city bankers dressing up as grungey surfers to seduce their unsuspecting girlfriends to win a bet. The wigs are a part of the costume our bankers don to deceive their supposedly faithful girlfriends. Of course, our bankers are betting that they will fail and their girlfriends will remain as faithful as they believe them to be, but who can resist a rough but charming surfer? Especially with that hair! Read more

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5 Star Review & OffWestEnd Award Nomination

We have been overwhelmed and delighted by everyone’s super positive responses to our Cosi Fan Tutte Street Opera!

Firstly, we are so excited to have been nominated for the Offies Best Opera Production award by OffWestEnd.com after one of their assessors saw our Morden performance. The nominations continue over the year with the 2017 winners announced early 2018 – so keep your fingers crossed and watch this space!!

And we couldn’t be more thrilled by our 5 and 4 star reviews from Operissima and LondonTheatre1 respectively. You can read the full reviews at the links below or check out the Cosi Fan Tutte page for some of the quotations we’ve picked out. Read more

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Chatting to Wandsworth Radio about Street Opera

Last Saturday Artistic Director Joanna Turner headed to Wandsworth Radio to talk about our Cosi Fan Tutte Production. To listen to the broadcast just click the play button above. She also talks a little about our next production by David Mamet as part of National Libraries Week, Reunion & Dark Pony.

We still have a few remaining Cosi Fan Tutte performances in Mitcham, Wimbledon Village and Wimbledon Town Centre. Check out the Cosi Fan Tutte production page for details.

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Cosi Fan Tutte performances in full swing!

Raynes Park Tavern, Raynes Park

Our Cosi Fan Tutte performances are now well underway and we’re getting fantastic reactions both from audiences who’ve come along especially to see us and people who we’ve surprised while they’ve been doing the shopping or having a pint in the pub! So far we’ve had scenes popping up in Tooting, Pollards Hill, Raynes Park and Colliers Wood.

Tooting High Street

Who’d have thought you’d hear the Cosi opening trio of the boys making the bet to test their girlfriends whilst playing pool in the Raynes Park Tavern, or the girls deciding which disguised boy to flirt with in the jewellery section in Colliers Wood M&S? I think my personal favourite though was the boys singing their conversation about whether their girlfriends have cheated whilst coming down the escalator in the Qube shopping centre!

The hugest thanks to all the amazing businesses who’ve given us permission for performing in their stores – we really appreciate your help in bringing opera to everyone in Merton!  Read more

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