Today marks World Theatre Day, which is celebrated annually on 27 March by the international theatre community. Initiated in 1961 by the International Theatre Institute (ITI), the first World Theatre Day message was written by Jean Cocteau in 1962.
To commemorate the day, we take a look at some of the incredible theatres that we’ve had the privilege of performing in.
Welsh National Opera’s first fully staged opera performance was at The Prince of Wales Theatre in Cardiff on 15 April 1946 – a beautiful and elegant production of the infamous duo Cavalleria Rusticana and I pagliacci. The theatre has since become a pub, but some of the original features can still be seen. Our next home was The New Theatre, Cardiff, with our first performance taking place in 1954. We performed there for 50 years, before moving to our current home, Wales Millennium Centre in 2004. Andrew Lloyd Webber once said that The Donald Gordon theatre at the Centre was his favourite venue.
We also tour to various theatres across Wales, from Venue Cymru in Llandudno to Pontio in Bangor and Riverfront in Newport to theatres across England, including Birmingham Hippodrome, Hall for Cornwall, Mayflower Theatre in Southampton, Theatre Royal in Plymouth and Queen’s Theatre in Barnstaple, to name a few. We’ve even taken the Company international, visiting theatres around the globe.
In 1989 we performed Falstaff at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York, which was attended by our former patron, the late Diana, Princess of Wales. This production also made its way to Teatro Lirico in Milan the following year, however the conductor had to contend with a large screen showing of the European Cup final between AC Milan and Benfica which was within hearing distance of the theatre. AC Milan won and the local crew all ran out to celebrate, meaning it was all hands on deck from the travelling Company.
We have had the pleasure of performing Pélleas et Mélisande at the beautiful Théatre du Châtelet in Paris in 1992 and 1994.
Following a successful trip with the full Company in 2017, our Programmes and Engagement team returned to Dubai Opera House in 2019 to deliver a series of workshops and masterclasses with local schools, community choirs, and young musicians from the Centre for Musical Arts.
WNO visited Brno, Czech Republic in 2022 and played at the newly revamped theatre after first playing there in 2018. The first visit was made special by the first snow of the year laying on the ground outside, but our second visit was even more memorable as the Company received two standing ovations for both the concert and for The Makropulos Affair.
These are just some of the WNODERFUL theatres we have visited, and we hope to see you at one of our many favourite venues when we visit Cardiff, Cornwall, Llandudno, Oxford, Birmingham and Brecon this Summer with Candide.