Researching Mozart's The Magic Flute...

As opera titles go, The Magic Flute is one of the biggest. It’s been hugely popular for over 200 years and there have been countless new productions. However, to a modern day audience, it poses some serious areas for concern such as; racism, sexism, and the endorsement of archaic patriarchal rules and dogmas. Director Valentina Ceschi, librettist Glyn Maxwell and orchestrator Alex Beetschen aim to explore these themes, and hope to break down some barriers of race and gender in opera, whilst giving Mozart’s masterpiece a fresh new look.

We’re delighted to have been funded by Arts Council England for two weeks of Research and Development, during which our Creative Team can do just that. We will be joining forces with members of Soho Young Company to introduce young artists to opera, smashing pre-conceptions and enabling them to work with some of the best professional singers, instrumentalists, opera designers, directors and writers in the country. This partnership will also give our professional creative team the chance to hear ideas and explore new ways of staging opera from the next generation.

You'll be able to follow developments of the R&D here, on our blog and see the final product on the stage at Soho Theatre soon.