This Halloween, Gothic Opera presents The Werewolf and the Last Sorcerer

Gothic Opera returns to the stage this Halloween with their first-ever double bill, Le Loup-garou (The Werewolf) and Le dernier sorcier (The Last Sorcerer), which is taking place at the Round Chapel in Hackney. United by their supernatural, fairytale-like themes and their subtly sinister but light-hearted character, this pair of operas will invite the audience into an intricately crafted world full of mysterious magical creatures. The opera is sung in French with English surtitles and newly-written spoken dialogue in English.

Fresh from success in the Opera Production category at the Off-West End Awards (with their 2021 UK premiere of Gounod’s La Nonne sanglante), Gothic Opera is continuing its mission to open opera up to new audiences and to inspire people to come and experience rarely-heard operas in atmospheric, evocative locations. This year’s performance promises to shed new light upon the unjustly neglected work of the nineteenth-century female composers Louise Bertin and Pauline Viardot.
Gothic Opera is working with some of the brightest upcoming singers in London to bring these operas to life for the very first time in the UK. They will be joined by a predominantly female creative team, including stage directors Eleanor Burke, part of the Royal Opera House’s Jette Parker 2022 intake, who will direct Le Loup-garou, and Edwina Strobl, who will direct Le dernier sorcier. The set and costume designer is award-winning Anna Kelsey; and the operas will be conducted by musical director Juliane Gallant, currently a member of Tapestry Opera’s inaugural Women in Musical Leadership Fellowship.

Featuring newly-written dialogue – which brings the operas up to date while responding to the humour of the original – and with a stellar creative team and cast of brilliant, passionate musicians, Gothic Opera’s 2022 Halloween production is set to achieve the highest artistic standards, opening these neglected works up to a wider public, and challenging audiences to experience something brand new this Halloween.