Stage: English Touring Opera

This May, English Touring Opera (ETO) returns to The Hawth Crawley with two full-scale productions of acclaimed operas, one of which has been nominated for an prestigious Olivier Award.

The company’s season, themed around Ancient and Modern Myths, begins with Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute, whose wit and charm has enchanted music lovers for hundreds of years. It is sung in full costume with an orchestral accompaniment with a beautiful score including the show-stopping aria Queen Of The Night.

ETO’s visit continues with Paul Bunyan, a collaboration between composer Benjamin Britten and poet W. H. Auden, often described as a cross between an opera and a musical. The music incorporates a wide variety of styles, including folk songs, blues and hymns.

Paul Bunyan opened earlier this year at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and has since been nominated for this year’s Olivier Award for ‘Outstanding Achievement in Opera’. This new production recreates the great myth of the North American frontier in a charming, dreamlike adventure which features lumberjacks, singing geese and cats, good and bad cooks and an accountant.

Paul Bunyan himself is a legendary folk hero – a gigantic lumberjack, the American equivalent of Robin Hood or King Arthur. He is a character cloaked in mystery and in Britten’s opera appears only as a powerful voice off-stage. For ETO’s production the part has been pre-recorded by Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning actor Damian Lewis, famous for his roles in Homeland and Band Of Brothers.

James Conway, ETO’s General Director, said: ‘This season is full of challenges for us, but I am really excited about it.’ He added: ‘There is something thrilling about being on the edge of what you can do; part of it is the feeling that you need the good will of the audience to make it happen.

The Magic Flute, Monday 5 May
Paul Bunyan, Tuesday 6 May
The Hawth, Crawley
Box office 01293 553636
www.tickets.hawth.co.uk