11 stories by "Warwick Thompson"
A succession of women, all dressed in exquisite 1950s gowns, walk eagerly into the hotel room of Don Giovanni (a charismatic Christopher Purves). They're excited and ready for fun and each c…
"All the world's a stage," said Shakespeare. Director Jan Philipp Gloger appears to agree.He sets his new Royal Opera production of Mozart's "Così fan tutte" in a mashed-up world of meta-…
They say that after the first five shades of grey, the next forty-five all look the same. That's an awful lot of grey - but apparently not enough for designer Barbara de Limburg, who has cre…
The conducting sparkles like a fountain of diamonds. There's a superstar performance by young soprano Jennifer France as a naughty chambermaid. The score has hit tune after hit tune. So why …
A desperate young woman fights off the attentions of a lust-crazed brute... As opera plots go, this situation ticks every box for a great show, and has been used in - roughly speaking - a ga…
The last time "Aladdin" was seen in a major London theatre (it was the Old Vic) Sir Ian McKellen played Widow Twanky. In true panto fashion, the role was full of smutty innuendo. "You've hea…
In Wagner's opera "Tristan and Isolde" the protagonists are not so much characters as concepts. They speak in symbols. They represent philosophies of love and death. It's a tough call for an…
The score is lavish and sumptuous, the playing gorgeous, the singing excellent. So what makes "Iris" the most bonkers show ever put on at Opera Holland Park?Mascagni's rarely-staged 1898 ope…
European opera festivals this year offer something to suit every taste. New works take a bow, older ones get a fresh look, and dependable warhorses show they can still light up the house. So…
For her latest role, soprano Sophie Bevan is covered in thick, gooey, red sludge. "It represents destiny," she says cheerfully. "You can't escape it. Everyone gets covered in it by the end."…
