Name: The Dragon of Wantley
Start: 2024-04-14T00:00:00.000Z
End: 2024-05-12T00:00:00.000Z
Location: All Saints Centre

Admin

New Sussex Opera

Conductor

Toby Purser

Others

New Sussex Opera Chorus

Orchestra

Bellot Ensemble

Stage director

Paul Higgins

Set designer

Mollie Cheek

Costume designer

Lighting designer

Emma Gasson

Dramaturge

Benjamin Poore

Singer

Ana Beard Fernández

Soloist

Charlotte Badham

Magnus Walker

Robert Gildon

English

The Dragon of Wantley

Eastbourne

United Kingdom

Devonshire Park Theatre

London

Blackheath Halls

Winchester

Theatre Royal

Tunbridge Wells

Trinity Theatre

Hove

The Old Market

Lewes

All Saints Centre

Public

Sharan Allad

Approved

Theatre Royal Winchester

A dragon is terrorizing the Yorkshire countryside, devouring anything it meets. The only person who can save the locals is a drunken squire – if he can put down his pint. He agrees, but just as daunting as his monstrous opponent is the love triangle that ensues. Will the dragon prevail? And who will get their man? 

The Dragon of Wantley, the 1737 smash hit of the London season, parodies Handel’s serious operas – as well as poking fun at the government of the day. The combination of Lampe’s first-rate music (of which Handel himself approved) and wonderfully witty libretto by Henry Carey makes this opera a comic gem.

Don’t miss the rare chance to see this masterpiece of English comic opera performed with a traditional period orchestra as New Sussex Opera sets the opera in a South Yorkshire of the 1980’s (against the background of the miners’ strike). The recent recording of THE DRAGON OF WANTLEY from the Brook Street Band and conductor John Andrews won BBC Music Magazine 2023 Award in Opera. 

Conductor Toby Purser and director Paul Higgins join forces again following their success with Stanford’s The Travelling Companion for New Sussex Opera, which was nominated for an International Opera Award, with what was a world première recording released on the SOMM label.

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Cast

Crew

Ensemble