Opera Will Hit The Streets Of Wimbledon And Beyond In August
A street opera version of Die Fledermaus will be performed
A street opera version of Die Fledermaus will be performed across Merton this August thanks to a joint project between the Wimbledon Foundation, the charity of the All England Lawn Tennis Club and The Championships, and Baseless Fabric.
The Merton-based company, who bring opera and theatre directly into public spaces, was the first organisation to receive funding from the Wimbledon Foundation’s Arts and Community Engagement (ACE) Fund launched in 2018.
Baseless Fabric used the funding to create a street opera version of Johann Strauss’ Die Fledermaus which is being performed in more than 30 high street venues including cafes, pubs, train stations, supermarkets and libraries across the two boroughs.
As part of the project, Baseless Fabric also worked with two young people's groups from a local primary and secondary school in partnership with Merton Music Foundation and local children’s charity Jigsaw4u to create and perform their own versions of the classic opera.
Joanna Turner, Artistic Director of Baseless Fabric said: “Our high street adaptation of Die Fledermaus will enable everyone to experience high quality professional opera. Our performances aim to change attitudes to the art form and encourage people to realise that opera can be fun and not elitist, expensive, boring or irrelevant as it can often be perceived. We passionately believe music and theatre have the power build community and transform society.”
Helen Parker, Head of Wimbledon Foundation said, “We are delighted to be supporting Baseless Fabric and the way in which they make opera accessible for everyone from the very youngest to the very oldest in our community. We’re very much looking forward to seeing people experience the pop-up opera performances as they are waiting for the bus or doing their shopping.”
Performance times and dates:
Thurs 1 Aug 5pm COLLIERS WOOD Starts at Savacentre / The Qube, SW19 1DD
Fri 2 Aug 11am POLLARDS HILL Starts at New Horizon Centre Cafe, CR4 1LT
Sat 3 Aug 1pm RAYNES PARK Starts at Waitrose, Raynes Park, SW20 0BS
Sat 3 Aug 5pm WIMBLEDON Starts at Elys, 16 St George’s Road, Wimbledon SW19 4DP. Last year's Elys show is pictured above.
Thu 8 Aug 5pm WANDSWORTH TOWN Starts at Southside Shopping Centre, SW18 4TQ
Fri 9 Aug 1pm MITCHAM Starts at Morrisons, Mitcham, CR4 2JS
Sat 10 Aug 1pm CLAPHAM JUNCTION Starts at ASDA, 204 Lavender Hill, Battersea, SW11 1JG
Sat 10 Aug 5pm WIMBLEDON VILLAGE Starts at Bayley & Sage, 60 High Street, Wimbledon, SW19 5EE
Tue 13 Aug 1pm MORDEN Starts at Oxfam, 31 London Road, Morden, SM4 5HT
Tue 13 Aug 5pm TOOTING BROADWAY Starts at Tooting Market, Tooting High Street, SW17 0SN
Wed 14 Aug 1pm ROEHAMPTON Starts at Roehampton Library, 2 Danebury, Ave, SW15 4HD
Wed 14 Aug 5pm WIMBLEDON Starts at Elys, 16 St George’s Road, Wimbledon SW19 4DP.
July 29, 2019