Carmen

When supermarket check-out girl Carmen brazenly flirts with the new security guard Don Jose, much to the confusion and embarrassment of his fiancée Micaela, things get even more complicated as Carmen’s ex-boyfriend turned TikTok celebrity Escamillo also shows up.

Follow our characters’ entangled love stories in this bold contemporary re-imagining of the classic Carmen story for London life today.

With a re-imagined score for violin, accordion and bassoon by acclaimed young composer Leo Geyer of Bizet’s famous tunes and a colloquial contemporary English libretto by director and librettist Joanna Turner, this daring new production placed Bizet’s characters directly on today’s high street. 

Baseless Fabric returned to the Arcola Theatre’s Grimeborn Opera Festival following 2019’s sell-out Die Fledermaus (★★★★ The Guardian, ★★★★ The Stage) and recent Cosi Fan Tutte, which was an Off West End Award Finalist for Best Opera Production. We also presented the re-imagining in our classic Street Opera performances across the boroughs of Merton and Wandsworth.

 

Reviews

Carmen for the TikTok generation hits the right notes at Grimeborn.- , Evening Standard
Joanna Turner’s libretto is intentionally crisp and thrillingly modern.- London Unattached
The great strength of the production overall is the confident ensemble established between all the performers… Baseless Fabric Theatre are a tight weave indeed!- , British Theatre
Everything in the show makes for richly enjoyable and quick entertainment; it showcases Bizet’s opera honourably, and makes the medium of opera accessible and unscary.- , Reviews Hub
An intimate and suitably revolutionary Carmen is born.- London Unattached
A glorious mash-up of Bizet’s marvellous music and a modern take on the feisty and freedom loving young woman- , Plays To See

 

Creative Team

Leo Geyer – Arranger/MD
Joanna Turner – Director & Librettist
Marina Hadjilouca – Designer
Joe Price – Lighting Designer
Natalia Bogdanova – Fight Director
Petros Kourtellaris – Associate Designer
Emily Noble – Stage Manager
Emma Peace – ASM

Singers

Felicity Buckland – Carmen (Arcola)
Susannah Horowitz – Carmen (Street Opera)
Jonathan Cooke – Don Jose
Claire Wild – Micaela
Nicholas Morris – Escamillo

Instrumentalists

Leo Geyer – Bassoon
Louisa Till – Violin
Ilona Suomalainen – Accordion

  

 

Performance Dates

From Tuesday 9th August until 13th August 2022 at ARCOLA THEATRE (Arcola Theatre, E8 3DL)

Street Opera Dates

10 Locations Across Merton & Wandsworth 4th August – 21st August 2022.

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