Intelligent Opera at the King’s Head, London

The Laurence Olivier award for best opera in 2010 went not to a production at Covent Garden or the ENO but the Operaupclose’s ‘La Boheme’ which started life in a small room above the Cock Tavern in Kilburn, transferred to the excellent Soho Theatre in Dean Street, and then back for more sell-out performances at the Cock.

The Company has produced several more small operas in the space of very few months.  Most of them are at London’s only fringe opera space, the King’s Head in Islington and currently showing is an absorbing Pagliacci, not only beautifully sung but wonderfully acted as well.  I wouldn’t be surprised if the Olivier award for 2011 didn’t go to the same company, that is unless the big guns get lobbying. 

Check out the King’s Head’s website for the full programme of innovative and intelligent operas.

Jeannette Nelson, Theatre Critic

Jeannette is a bit of a culture vulture who enjoys art exhibitions, cinema and classical music, but her main interest is the theatre. For several years she ran theatre discussion groups for which her MA in Modern Drama together with teaching skills stood her in good stead. She prefers to concentrate on the many off West End and fringe productions as well as that real treasure of the London theatre scene, the National.