Step into this season's stories…
A story of love and heartbreak:
La rondine
Set in the colourful locales of Paris and the balmier climes of Nice, experience a bittersweet tale…
Magda, a Parisian courtesan, is the ‘rondine’ - ‘swallow’ - of the title, the bird who flies towards the sun. As a young girl she was swept off her feet by a man she then lost in the crowd. A song triggers that memory and returning to the Bullier Ball of her youth dressed as a student, she falls in love with Ruggero, a shy country boy. But is he the one, and is this what she truly wants?
Puccini’s music is filled with comedy, dizzying waltzes and breathtaking choruses, foxtrots and soaring melodies, all leading to a heart-breaking finale. Bruno Ravella’s production will explore the opera’s emotional core and Magda’s poignant journey of discovery.
What will become of these young lovers?
Find out this summer in La rondine
26 | 29 August & 1 | 3 September
A comedy double bill:
Rita & Il segreto di Susanna
These brilliantly witty and humorous stories explore two very different marriages, but in each, a series of secrets and misunderstandings lead to a web of intrigue into which a whole host of colourful characters are drawn…
Rita, the tyrannical inn-owner and wife of Peppe is shocked by the return of someone she least expected: her former thought-to-be-dead-by-drowning husband Gasparo (actually he had just escaped to far-off lands). He is back to acquire Rita’s death certificate so he can remarry - because he, in turn, thought she had died. Stuck in the middle amidst the shock and confusion of the spouses, is poor brow-beaten Peppe who would dearly love to escape Rita’s clutches. Perhaps Gasparo’s return provides the perfect opportunity?
Il segreto di Susanna (Susanna’s Secret) is a much more innocent comedy of confusion and misunderstanding…
Conte Gil’s suspicions arise when he returns home to the smell of tobacco. Has his beautiful wife Susanna taken a lover? Gil suspects so, employing outrageous schemes to discover the existence of another man. Meanwhile his wife, with the help of their servant, resorts to ever more desperate lengths, to conceal her real secret.
Enjoy this riotous evening set to gorgeous music this summer…
Rita & Il segreto di Susanna
27 | 31 August
An enchanting tale for the whole family: The Man in the Moon
This warm-hearted musical tale is one to enchant and inspire, as well as remind us to look after our precious world.
Now and again we find delights in our garden. However Ellie has discovered something extraordinary - the Moon.
How did the Moon end up in Ellie’s back garden? And what happened next?
The Man in the Moon and Ellie take a spectacular, whistle-stop journey through space and time. From the Stone Age to the swinging sixties and forward to the future, they’re amazed at what humans have invented and achieved. Yet they’re also dismayed at the mess humans leave behind and reminded that we all need to do our bit to look after our wonderful world.
Explore Belcombe Court gardens and get creative in our prop-making workshop, before taking your seat in the Saddlespan theatre and joining Ellie in her garden - ready for an adventure…
The Man in the Moon
Sunday 28 August, shows at 1:15pm and 4:15pm
A timeless tale of love, war and betrayal: Dido and Aeneas
The course of true love runs far from smooth in this gripping story.
Dido, the Queen of Carthage, is won over by the Trojan hero Aeneas, but with sorcery at play their story does not end there. Much anguish and betrayal follows as Aeneas is tricked into believing the gods require him to leave Carthage immediately to fulfil his destiny. Can he bear to be parted from his beloved Dido, knowing that she will be heartbroken?
One of the most beautiful arias in all Baroque opera completes the story - ‘When I am Laid in Earth’
An intimate and powerful operatic concert not to be missed this September
Images from past performances