On June 8th 1953 The ‘Two Angry Women of Abingdon’ was performed by Abingdon Drama Club – the first ever performance at the Unicorn Theatre in Abingdon.
In 1959 Orlando, an opera by Handel was performed. It was to be the first of many Handel operas brought back to the stage at the Unicorn in Abingdon by Alan Kitching. The Unicorn and Handel have became part of Handel operatic history.
This evening to commemorate those sixty years there was another Handel opera – Semele – performed by Jackdaws Opera Plus. Jackdaws run music courses and Opera Plus helps young singers get on. Semele has been performed as workshops in schools and the performance was brought to the Unicorn Theatre tonight.
Tickets were £30 each and were sold out.
The audience included Colin Kitching, the son of Alan kitching, and David Madden, who was a child actor in the mid-50s (more plays than operas), and Christine Lightfoot, a musician from the early operas.
The modern dress Handel had great humour and was enjoyed by all those I spoke to afterwards.
(Thanks to Hester for the pictures)
I saw Dr Faustus at the Unicorn a few years ago and it was one of the best performances I have ever seen. The woman who played Mephistopheles was incredible.
I’m also always happy to see it supported by ex-Larkmead teachers as they were some of the most inspirational teachers I had at school.
Last night’s performance also involved a small orchestra of local musicians and a chorus mainly consiting of girls from Our Lady’s. Many congratulations to all of them for bringing it together – mainly over the course of one weekend.
Nice picture, lovely place. A real asset to Abingdon 🙂
Who were the Two Angry Women of Abingdon, and what was the storyline?
As of today there are no angry women in this town. Correct?
It was a wonderful production. Excellent performances and clever staging, thoroughly enjoyable Thank you so much to everyone involved in putting this production of Semele together.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Porter_(playwright)
Really interesting reading, especially the manner of his death…
Although I notice Two angry women of AbingTon.??
Thank you Cllr Jason! Very nice of you. Liz (Mephistopheles)