Grimeborn Opera Festival, which is returning for its 12th successive year, features bold new versions of classic operas, rarely-seen and long-forgotten works, and brand new pieces from some of the most exciting up-and-coming opera artists.

The festival will be at Dalston's Arcola Theatre from 24 July to 26 August - find the line-up of shows below.

All tickets are priced between £10 and £26 and booking is now open for Arcola Supporters, with public booking starting on Friday 22 June at 12.30pm.

Kicking-off the festival is Benjamin Britten's The Rape of Lucretia, directed by rising star and Royal Opera Staff Director Julia Burbach with musical direction by Peter Selwyn.

This daring new production turns the lens on the representation of women from ancient myths to the #MeToo movement.

Then Jonathan Moore directs a new, thirtieth anniversary production of Greek.

His and Mark-Anthony Turnage's riotous, contemporary retelling of the Oedipus myth, based on the verse play by Steven Berkoff, sent shockwaves through the opera world when it premiered in 1988.

Now it comes home to the East End, with music direction by Tim Anderson.

Other productions include The Boatswain's Mate, written by suffragette Ethel Smyth, in a rare staging on the centenary of the Representation of the People Act; Francesco Cavalli's Xerse, featuring eleven singers, baroque violins, cello, lute and harpsichord; the European premiere and 50th anniversary production of Elephant Steps, an occult, surrealist opera by American avant garde theatre pioneers Richard Foreman and Stanley Silverman; and A Fantastic Bohemian, a unique, promenade opera experience based on Jacques Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffman.

Fulham Opera bring their contemporary version of Gaetano Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor along with a ravishing new opera, The Prometheus Revolution by Keith Burstein.

Opera Alegria stage Donizetti's Rita alongside Maurice Ravel's L'Heure Espagnole.

Classics are reimagined by the Romany Theatre Company, whose Carmen The Gypsy places the story in the contemporary British traveller community with original Gypsy folk songs, and by The Opera Company, whose Onegin and Tatiana offers a new take on Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin.

Mosaic platforms and celebrates Black & Asian opera makers, with creative workshops for artists and performances for audiences, showcasing stories yet to be seen and heard in contemporary Britain.

And there are one-night-only performances of Swing Sister Swing, inspired by jazz-greats Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone and Billie Holiday; Teenage Bodies, a cycle of cantates for five voices based on Dieterich Buxtehude's Membra Jesu Nostri; and Recitals, featuring performances by soprano Milly Forrest and pianist Alastair Chilvers of some of the repertoire's best-loved pieces.

There are even shows for young children, with Melanie Gall's Opera Mouse and Jazz Cat introducing to the next generation to the wonders of opera and live music.

Arcola Artistic Director Mehmet Ergen said ...

"Opera should belong to everybody.

Its roots are in the streets, in the stories we share, and in the power of music to unite and affect us all.

Grimeborn exists to champion that power, and to make it accessible: with affordable ticket-prices, a diverse programme and a platform for the young and the new.

Twelve years in, it's still building momentum: with more and more people attending the festival each year.

I think this year's line-up is the most exciting yet, and I can't wait to see it on our stages."

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Venue

Arcola Theatre

24 Ashwin Street

Shows

Studio 1

24, 25, 27, 28, 31 July, 1, 3, 4 August | 7.30pm

Arcola Theatre

THE RAPE OF LUCRETIA

Music: Benjamin Britten

Words: Ronald Duncan

Direction: Julia Burbach

Music Direction: Peter Selwyn

Live music (small orchestra), performed in English

£26 | £22 | £15 | £12  (concessions available, Arcola Passport holders go free)

Approx: 120 min (no interval) | For ages: 16+

Studio 1

26 July | 7.30pm

The Opera Box

RECITALS

Music: Richard Strauss, Hugo Wolf, Vincenzo Bellini, Franz Liszt, Francis Poulenc, Joseph Haydn

Direction: Mark Burns

Music Direction: Alastair Chilvers

Live piano music, performed in original language (with translation sheets)

£20 | £18 | £12 | £10  (concessions available, Arcola Passport holders go free)

Approx: 120 min (with interval) | For ages: All

Studio 1

29 July | 4pm & 8pm

Nancy Hitzig & Cat Foley

SWING SISTER SWING

Music: Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Billie Holiday

Live and recorded music

£20 | £18 | £12 | £10  (concessions available, Arcola Passport holders go free)

Approx: 120 min (with interval) | For ages: 16+ (live cabaret, partial nudity)

Studio 2

30, 31 July, 1 August | 8pm

Spectra Ensemble

THE BOATSWAIN'S MATE

Music and Words: Ethel Smyth

Direction: Cecilia Stinton

Music Direction: John Warner

Live music (piano, cello, violin), performed in English

£20 | £18 | £15  (concessions available, Arcola Passport holders go free)

Approx: 80 min (no interval) | For ages: All

Studio 2

1 August | 11am

Melanie Gall

OPERA MOUSE

Music: Puccini, Mozart

Words: Melanie Gall

Recorded music, performed in English with French and Italian

£10  (£8 for children)

Approx: 45 min (no interval) | For ages: 2-9

Studio 2

1 August | 2pm

Melanie Gall

JAZZ CAT

Music: Harry Woods, Louis Armstrong, Robert Johnson

Words: Melanie Gall

Recorded music, performed in English

£10  (£8 for children)

Approx: 45 min (no interval) | For ages: 2-9

Studio 1

2 August | 7.30pm

Opera Louise

TEENAGE BODIES

Music: Dietrich Buxtehude

Words and Direction: Julien Chavaz

Music Direction: Jérôme Kuhn

Live music (small orchestra), performed in English

£20 | £18 | £12 | £10  (concessions available, Arcola Passport holders go free)

Approx: 80 min (no interval) | For ages: All

Studio 2

3, 4 August | 8pm

5 August | 5pm

Opera Alegria

RITA & L'HEURE ESPAGNOLE

Music: Gaetano Donizetti / Maurice Ravel

Words: Lindsay Bramley

Direction: Benjamin Newhouse-Smith

Music Direction: Lindsay Bramley

Live piano music, performed in English

£20 | £18 | £15  (concessions available, Arcola Passport holders go free)

Approx: 135 min (with interval) | For ages: All

Studio 4, 1, Bar

4, 11 August | Pre-show at 14:00, show at 14:30

5, 12 August | Pre-show at 15:30, show at 16:00

OPERA MIO & Co-Productions

A FANTASTIC BOHEMIAN

The Tales of Hoffman Revisited

Music: Jacques Offenbach

Words and Direction: Maria Ines Olmedo

Based on the English translation by Jeff Clarke

New Orchestrations by James Garner

Live music (piano, cello, clarinet, violin), performed in English with Spanish

£20 (concessions available, Arcola Passport holders go free)

Approx: 105 min (no interval) | For ages: All

Studio 1

8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18 August

Arcola Theatre

GREEK

Music by Mark-Anthony Turnage

Libretto by Steven Berkoff from his stage play of the same title, adapted by Mark-Anthony Turnage and Jonathan Moore

Direction: Jonathan Moore

Music Direction: Tim Anderson

Live music (small orchestra), performed in English

£26 | £22 | £15 | £12  (concessions available, Arcola Passport holders go free)

Approx: 90 min (no interval) | For ages: 16+

Studio 2

7, 8, 10 August | 7pm

Fulham Opera

THE PROMETHEUS REVOLUTION

Music and Words: Keith Burstein

Direction: Sophie Gilpin

Music Direction: Ben Woodward

Live piano music, performed in English

£20 | £18 | £15  (concessions available, Arcola Passport holders go free)

Approx: 150 min (with interval) | For ages: 12+

Studio 2

9, 11 August | 7pm

Fulham Opera

LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR

Music: Gaetano Donizetti

Words: Salvadore Cammarano

Direction: Jim Manganello

Music Direction: Michael Thrift

Live piano music, performed in Italian with English surtitles

£20 | £18 | £15  (concessions available, Arcola Passport holders go free)

Approx: 130 min (with interval) | For ages: 12+

Studio 2

13, 14 August | 8pm

The Opera Company

ONEGIN AND TATIANA

Music: Tchaikovsky, Strauss, Rachmaninov, Schubert

Words: Tchaikovsky after Pushkin

Direction: Guido Martin-Brandis

Music Direction: Noah Mosley

Live piano music, performed in English and other languages with surtitles

£20 | £18 | £15  (concessions available, Arcola Passport holders go free)

Approx: 90 min (no interval) | For ages: All

Studio 2

Mosaic Opera Collective / Utopia Theatre Company

MOSAIC

16, 17 August | 8pm

Red Seed (music & libretto - Sayan Kent)

Rain (music - Ruth Chan, libretto - Elaine Ruth White )

Occo's Eternal Act (presented by Hoc Opera; music - Daniel Saleeb, libretto - Oge Nwosu)

Pied Piper of Chibok (presented by Utopia Theatre; music - Juwon Ogungbe, libretto - Olusola Oyeleye, director - Moji Kareem)

18, 19 August | 8pm

Between Constellations (music - Ruth Chan, librettist - Zoe Palmer, dramatist - Jennifer Farmer)

Turandot Reimagined (music - Giacomo Puccini, re-arranged by Ruth Chan, libretto - (in Mandarin with synopsis) by Simon Wu & company, director - Jonathan Man)

1000 Songs (presented by the Myaseen Collective; music - Cevanne Horrocks-Hopayian, libretto - Ziazan, director - Seta White)

Live and recorded music

£20 | £18 | £15  (concessions available, Arcola Passport holders go free)

Studio 1

20, 21, 22 August | 7.30pm

Patrick Kennedy Phenomenological Theatre

ELEPHANT STEPS

Music: Stanley Silverman

Words: Richard Foreman

Direction: Patrick Kennedy

Music Direction: Nathan Jarvis

Live music (orchestra), performed in English

£26 | £22 | £15 | £12  (concessions available, Arcola Passport holders go free)

Approx: 60 min (no interval) | For ages: All

Studio 2

22, 23, 24, 25th August | 8pm

25 August | 3pm

Romany Theatre

CARMEN THE GYPSY

Music, Words and Direction: Dan Allum

Music Direction: Candida Calcott

Live music (guitar, drum, violin, accordion), performed in English and Romani (no surtitles)

£20 | £18 | £15  (concessions available, Arcola Passport holders go free)

Approx: 90 min (no interval) | For ages: 13+

Studio 1

24, 25, 26 August | 7.30pm

Ensemble OrQuesta

XERSE

Music: Francesco Cavalli

Words: Nicolò Minato

Direction: Marcio Da Silva

Music Direction: Marcio da Silva & Stephanie Gurga

Live music (violin, cello, lute, harpsichord), performed in Italian with English surtitles

£26 | £22 | £15 | £12  (concessions available, Arcola Passport holders go free)

Approx: 175 min (with interval) | For ages: All

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Links

Arcola Theatre website

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