Creative partnership provides an exciting opportunity for young costume makers and opera singers
A creative partnership between Dorset-based arts charity Hurn Court Opera and Costume students at Arts University Bournemouth (AUB) is providing valuable experience to young people both on and behind the stage.
Hurn Court Opera exists to champion rising opera stars at the beginning of their careers, providing them with training and performance opportunities. It is almost entirely self-funded, relying on ticket sales, donations and sponsorship.
Following a successful collaboration during the charity’s production of Rossini’s La Cenerentola last year, third-year students of AUB’s BA (Hons) degree in Costume are once again creating more than 25 costumes for this year’s production of Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata. The opera opens in theatres across Dorset and Hampshire this April.
La Traviata is a timelessly tragic tale of love, loss and societal expectation, telling the story of Violetta, a high-class courtesan and her passionate love affair with the young nobleman, Alfredo. Based on the novel La Dame aux Camélias by Alexandre Dumas and originally set in 19th century Paris, the opera receives a 1930s makeover in Hurn Court Opera’s production.
“Setting La Traviata in Paris in the 1930s renders it easier to have on the stage of the regional theatres we visit. All those 19th-century crinolines would take up so much space!” explains Theatre Director, Joy Robinson. “So, it’s from a practical point of view that we are moving it to the thirties – but it’s also a time when we can still convey that notion of the ‘kept woman’ and that feeling of being in a demi-monde, a world living in the shadows.
“The beauty of our collaboration with AUB is that we have a team of incredibly talented young costume makers behind the stage supporting an equally talented cast of young performers on stage. We can’t wait for our audiences to see the costumes when La Traviata opens in April – they are going to look absolutely stunning!”
AUB Senior Lecturer, Wayne Martin, says, “Our BA (Hons) Costume degree teaches the mastery of couture, professional costume making, tailoring and supervision for both film and theatre. Working to a ‘live’ brief from Hurn Court Opera, our third year costume students have had a wonderful opportunity to create 1930s ‘Arts Deco’ costumes as well as collaborate with young artists from the world of opera.”
La Traviata opens at The Regent in Christchurch on 16 April, followed by performances at The Coade Hall, Bryanston on 18 April and Theatre Royal, Winchester on 20 April. The cast of rising opera stars includes Caroline Taylor as tragic heroine Violetta, Sam Britner as Alfredo and Philip Kalmanovitch as Giorgio, Alfredo’s disapproving father.
Featuring the timelessly beautiful music of Giuseppe Verdi and themes that are still painfully relevant today, La Traviata is perfect for both seasoned opera fans and those experiencing opera for the first time. It is a fully staged production with orchestra conducted by Lynton Atkinson, and sung in Italian with English surtitles.
Tickets are available from theatre box offices or by visiting www.hurncourtopera.org
