On 11 December, we were delighted to welcome our Royal patron HRH The Duchess of Gloucester to our Edington Street production studios.
The Duchess was greeted by our General Director, Alex Reedijk, and Chairman, Peter Lawson, and taken around the building which houses our costume, props and technical departments as well as main rehearsal space. Her Royal Highness met with members of the workshops team, Neil Haynes (Scenic Artist Supervisor) and designer takis, who were working on sets for our upcoming production of Lehár’s The Merry Widow.
The tour then continued to the props department, where Marian Colquhoun (Head of Props) talked The Duchess through some of the projects currently ongoing, including a huge model crocodile for Nevada Ballet Theatre’s production of Peter Pan. Lorna Price (Head of Costume) and her team showed off some of their works in progress for shows including our new staging of Janáček’s The Makropulos Affair, which opens in February.
To finish the visit, The Duchess heard our Emerging Artists, Kira Kaplan, Edward Jowle, Chloe Harris, Ross Cumming and Meghan Rhoades rehearse with composer Toby Hession and librettist Emma Jenkins for the world premiere of their new operetta, A Matter of Misconduct!, along with our Head of Music Fiona MacSherry, and cast member Jamie MacDougall.
Many thanks to The Duchess for taking the time to visit, and we look forward to welcoming Her Royal Highness again soon.