We are delighted to announce that our upcoming season will begin with a staged production of Vaughan Williams’ fantastical comic opera The Poisoned Kiss.

For so long a ‘forgotten’ Vaughan Williams opera, this unique work brings a mix of the composer’s luscious melodies and energetic, Gilbert & Sullivan-style ensemble numbers to a madcap fantasy world reminiscent of Mozart’s The Magic Flute. 

Principal roles (six male and six female) include a lovesick Prince, a magician’s daughter with an obsession for snakes, a scheming sorcerer, an Empress, hobgoblins and clairvoyants. The chorus have just as much fun, populating the world as elemental forces, witches, goblins, forest creatures, city dwellers, pining lovers, and discontented flower girls. A recording is available on Spotify; click here to listen.

The production will be staged for both principals and chorus with piano accompaniment, with stage direction by Chris Cann and musical direction by Alex Carpenter, the team behind our successful winter productions of Bizet’s Carmen, Vaughan Williams’ Hugh the Drover, and Strauss’ Die Fledermaus.

Performances will take place at Holy Trinity Church, South Kensington, SW7 2BA, on the evenings of Thursday 23, Friday 24 and Saturday 25 January 2025. Rehearsals, also at the church, will take place on THURSDAY evenings (note change of regular rehearsal day) and Sunday afternoons, beginning on Thursday 3 October.

Our welcome rehearsal for the show will take place at Holy Trinity at 7:00pm on Thursday 19 September – this is a great chance to find out more about the show, meet other potential cast members, ask any questions and have a small sing through of some of the music. 

Auditions for principal roles will take place on Thursday 26 and Sunday 29 September – full details of these will be announced soon. As always, there are no auditions for chorus – just come along to a rehearsal to join in.

We’re very excited to start bringing this wonderfully eccentric opera to life over the next few months; with plenty of music and dialogue to get our teeth into, it promises to be riotously good fun. Do join us!

Best wishes,
Chris Cann & Alex Carpenter
Director/Musical Director: The Poisoned Kiss