Thinking of booking tickets to see Marx in London!, or are you looking to find out more about this kinetic new production, touring to Glasgow and Edinburgh? Here's 5 reasons not to miss the UK premiere of Jonathan Dove's opera in February 2024.
A brilliant creative team
You know you’re in safe hands when Stephen Barlow and Yannis Thavoris combine forces as director and designer. Yannis last worked with us on Ariodante in 2016 and Madama Butterfly in 2014, and Stephen last directed Flight for Scottish Opera in 2018. Stephen has also worked with composer Jonathan Dove on several operas throughout his career. The libretto for Marx in London! is by Charles Hart, whose work you may have heard already as he co-wrote the book for Andrew Lloyd Webber musical The Phantom of the Opera.
Stephen Barlow says:
‘As a musical storyteller, I am always interested in where musicals and operas cross over in the Venn diagram. In Jonathan Dove and Charles Hart, the composer and librettist of Marx in London!, you have a dream team that are well-versed in both art forms. It’s an opera that flows and at times feels like a musical in terms of pace and accessibility, but always remains an opera composed for acoustic voice and orchestra.’
A new challenge for our costume department
It’s the first time that our wardrobe department have had to make costumes for this period, the 1870s. It was a time of change where hooped skirts were all the rage, and crinoline was being used for the first time. The Spy – sung in our production by Jamie MacDougall – has 7 costume changes! Will you spot them all?
Acclaimed singers perform the roles of real people
Our talented cast includes Roland Wood (Il trittico 2023) as Karl Marx. He is joined on stage by Orla Boylan as his wife Jenny and Lucy Schaufer as their housekeeper, Helene. Rebecca Bottone (The Mikado 2016) and William Morgan (Candide 2022) take the respective roles of Marx’s eager youngest daughter and her hapless suitor.
Clever staging across one day and multiple locations
The opera’s action takes place in one frenetic day in the Marx household and in other sites across London. Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro is another opera which takes place in a day, in a handful of different locations. See how Yannis Thavoris’ designs and PJ McEvoy’s ingenious video projections work to create Karl’s world in his home, at the British Library and in his local, the Red Lion Public House.
Get a taste of Jonathan Dove's opera
Jamie MacDougall (Il trittico 2023), who joins the cast as the Spy in our production, gives us a great introduction to Jonathan Dove’s music for Marx in London! in our new audio resources. Get a feel for Dove’s signature style and immerse yourself in a range of orchestral interludes and some of the high notes, which were recorded at the world premiere at Theater Bonn. Listen here
Marx in London! tours to Glasgow and Edinburgh from Tuesday 13 February 2024. Book tickets now