In March & May 2022, we gave four performances of Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte: Two ordinary guys, one argument in a café and the chance to win £20,000 on a bet they just can’t lose. And yet, within a few hours, four middle-class lives unravel in a blizzard of pantomime antics, deception and confusion in this perfect mixture of comedy and tragedy. A timeless cautionary romp that is as relevant today as when the ink was still wet on the page.
Cosi fan Tutte, Mozart’s glorious musical setting of Da Ponte’s story of the crazy things normal people will do for love and money, is one of the greatest of all operatic situation comedies from the greatest of all opera writing partnerships. Da Ponte originally intended the opera to be called The School for Lovers and to imitate the style of Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s The School for Scandal; certainly, it feels at times more like an Eighteenth Century English comedy set to glorious music than an ‘traditional’ opera. And so in homage to the intentions of the original librettist, our new production is based in a café and set in the present day with a new English translation that ensures the characters and plot feel fresh for our own time, whilst remaining faithful to the intentions of the original.
The response to the performances was fantastic and a great reward for so much hard work by everyone involved. Here are just a few of the lovely comments we received:
- Lovely performances and superb singing of a very clever adaptation. Witty, slick and unpretentious. Catch their next show or you’ll regret it!
- From a small talented cast, Consensus Opera brought an evening of much joy to the Bear Pit.
- What a fantastic production! You definitely raised the Guesten Hall roof last night at Avoncroft with your wonderful adaptation of Cosi Fan Tutte. It really was a triumph!
- To me, the whole concept of opera is a bit rubbish. Over-stylised, elitist, remote and they say everything far too many times. So, imagine my annoyance at having my preconceptions demolished (not for the first time) by Consensus Opera and their production of Cosi Fan Tutte.
Performances
- Saturday 19 March: Memorial Hall, Henley-in-Arden
- £1,000 raised for Henley Memorial Hall and £150 raised for Ukraine
- Tuesday 22 & Wednesday 23 March: The Bear Pit Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon
- Wednesday 4 May: Avoncroft Museum of Buildings, Bromsgrove
- £1,000 raised for the Bromsgrove Society & Bromsgrove Court Leet nominated charities
The Cast
The Scam Team
- Don Alfonso (The Guv’nor): David Coulson
- Sally: Tracy Humphreys
- Dee: Fiona Robson
- Eric: Graham Robson
- Larry: David Stevens
The Scammed
- Fiordiligi: Claire Johnson
- Dorabella: Patricia Head
- Despina: Joan Self
- Ferrando: Tim Johnson
- Guglielmo: Paul Mocroft
Production
- Stage Director: Tim Johnson
- Adaptation: Tim Johnson
- Stage Manager: Pamela Hickson
- Stage Crew & All-Round Utility Player: Nick Le Mesurier
- Prompt: Ingrid Stevens
- Accompanist: Rachel Bird