Le Carnaval
de Venise
“It felt less like a conventional opera and more like being swept into a living carnival – part theatre, part circus, and wholly baroque.”
★★★★★
Opera Now
“Looks enchanting, sounds gorgeous… Huge fun”
The Spectator
To celebrate our fifth anniversary, we collided Baroque opera with the electrifying world of the circus, complete with aerial artists and acrobats! Campra’s dramatic music was a feast of styles and forms; folk dances featuring toe-tapping percussion riffs contrast with lyrical arias and joyful chorus numbers, with lyrics in both French and Italian (oh, and some of our English, too).
The spectacle unfolded under an atmospheric circus tent in the grounds of The Vache (or Venice 2.0). As usual, we brought our immersive and participatory flair to proceedings with installations and live music in the grounds.
Saturday 30 August & Sunday 31 August 2025
Saturday 6 & Sunday 7 September 2025
RELAXED PERFORMANCE
On Sunday 7 September 2025 we held our second Relaxed performance!
A shortened and adapted version of our 2025 opera, specially curated for a more ‘relaxed’ experience. Everyone was welcome to attend, including families with babies or very young children and those with learning disabilities, neurological conditions or movement disorders. Our Children’s Choir also featured in the Relaxed Performance alongside our professional cast and orchestra.
LÉONORE Katie Bray
ISABELLE Julieth Lozano
RODOLPHE Tristan Hambleton
LÉANDRE Themba Mvula
PLUTONE Giuseppe Pellingra
LA FORTUNE & SOPRANO CHORUS Eleanor Broomfield
ORFEO & ALTO CHORUS Feargal Mostyn-Williams
LE CHEF DES CASTELLANS & TENOR CHORUS William Searle
UN MUSICIEN & BASS CHORUS Adam Jarman
CIRCUS ARTIST Hannah Finn
CIRCUS ARTIST Shane Hampden
MUSIC DIRECTOR & HARPSICHORD Jonathan Darbourne
DIRECTOR James Hurley
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR Rebecca Solomon
DESIGNER Laura Jane Stanfield
LIGHTING DESIGNER Ben Pickersgill
SOUND Dom Harter & Simon Honywill, for Martin Audio
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR Emma Large
ASSOCIATE DESIGNER Laura Pearse
ASSISTANT LIGHTING DESIGNER Connor Divers
LIGHTING ASSISTANT Simon Pike
COSTUME ASSISTANT Kit Hand-Holding
FRENCH COACH Hervé Goffings
VIOLIN I Naomi Burrell
VIOLA Charlotte Fairbairn
VIOLA DA GAMBA Gavin Kibble
VIOLA DA GAMBA Kate Conway
BASS VIOLIN Jacob Garside
OBOE/RECORDER Oonagh Lee
FLUTE Anna Kondrashina
THEORBO/GUITAR Toby Carr
PERCUSSION Joley Cragg
COMPANY STAGE MANAGER Rebekah Tunnell
COMPANY STAGE MANAGER Jan Robotycki
PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Molly Goetzee
PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Theo Collins
VB CHILDREN’S CHOIR LEADERS Suzzie Vango & Antonio Oliveira
COMMUNITY CRAFTS LEADER Carla Conte