Pop-up Opera: Cosi Fan Tutte

Following an impressive Spring Season of Le Docteur Miracle – a quite miraculous reworking of an almost forgotten work (The Daily Express) – Pop-up Opera are back with Mozart’s much-loved opera buffa, Così fan tutte.

Mozart’s comedy tells of two sisters, Fiordiligi and Dorabella, and their fiancés Ferrando and Guglielmo, who, after a wager with the cynical Don Alfonso, test the girls’ fidelity by posing as strangers and trying to seduce them. Aided by the maid Despina, Don Alfonso’s plot has the girls hoodwinked and much hilarity ensues. Will love win over all in the end?

Taking inspiration from the British love of period costume dramas, Pop-up Opera is setting Così fan tutte in an English estate with a high society picnic, traditional country-house games of tennis, cricket and croquet and some exotic eastern surprises. Downton Abbey meets Pride and Prejudice to create the perfect setting for an evening of imbibing summer cocktails and letting the romance of the music seduce you.

Pop-up Opera will be touring the country to various unusual and intimate venues including a garlic farm in the Isle of Wight, Raglan Castle in Monmouthshire and will return to the extra special Thames Tunnel Shaft.

Pop-up Opera endeavours to make opera entertaining, without compromising quality – all operas are performed in their original language. Their intimate use of props, story-telling and interaction makes audience members feel as if they have been given a backstage pass. Pop-up’s operas are skillfully adapted to each individual venue, making every performance unique, while always maintaining the highest standards. The combination of amazing venues, along with an informal atmosphere and engaging productions, offers a greater connection to the singers and the music, something even seasoned opera-goers often miss.

If Pop-up Opera pops up near you, do pop in.