Welsh National Opera Announces Return to Live Performance with family opera Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

Welsh National Opera has announced that the Company will return to live performance with outdoor performances of a production of Will Todd’s family opera Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland this Summer.  

WNO celebrated its 75th birthday on 15 April this year and will begin live performance and the start of its 75th celebratory Season with a colourful production of Lewis Carroll’s famous tale in an opera commissioned and originally produced by Opera Holland Park. This will be the Company’s first return to the stage performing in front of a public audience following the past year’s focus on digital and online activity.

Performances are planned from 25 June until 3 July at the National Trust’s Dyffryn Gardens near Cardiff in the Vale of Glamorgan.

The classic tale of Alice’s adventures will come to life in this quirky family opera. Will Todd’s score, performed by a small orchestra, is a mix of jazz, musical and opera styles and perfectly accompanies the libretto to create a fun and engaging story that remains true to the original book. Plans are also being made for a programme of activities for families to run alongside the production.  

The promenade style performance in Dyffryn Gardens will take audiences from the drab and dreary to the colourful with the three sets surrounding them. The audience is invited to bring a blanket and to turn around as the action progresses with Alice’s journey through Wonderland. 

The cast includes guest artists Fflur Wyn who reprises the role of Alice, Benjamin Bevan, Feargal Mostyn-Williams, Aoife Miskelly, and Kelvin Thomas, along with members of WNO’s award-winning Chorus also taking centre stage in leading roles. WNO’s Talent Development programme has also continued online during the past year and the return to live performance will see WNO Associate Artists Aaron O’Hare and Adam Gilbert make their stage debuts in the production and new Weston Jerwood Directing Fellow, Gareth Chambers, joining the directing team. 

General Director Aidan Lang said ‘We are delighted to be in a position to perform to live audiences and what better way to come back than with a family opera for all to enjoy.  We are really looking forward to sharing the joy and experience of live opera once again.’  

Composer Will Todd said: ‘I'm so excited that audiences in Wales will get a chance to experience Alice's Adventures in Wonderland with Welsh National Opera. It's been such a fun piece to write the music for, and for me, it's all about making sure the audience, young and old, have a brilliant time listening to and watching live opera.’

Tickets for Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland go on public sale on Thursday 3 June.

wno.org.uk/alice 

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Notes to Editors

• Welsh National Opera is the national opera company for Wales, funded by the Arts Councils of Wales and England to provide large scale opera, concerts and outreach work across Wales and to major cities in the English regions. We endeavour to provide transformative experiences through our education and outreach programme and our award-winning digital projects. We work with our partners to discover and nurture young operatic talent, and we aim to show future generations that opera is a rewarding, relevant and universal art form with the power to affect and inspire.
• WNO images are available for download at http://www.wno.org.uk/press
• WNO’s return to the stage is supported by a generous grant from the Colwinston Charitable Trust
• WNO Associate Artist, Adam Gilbert, is supported by the Shirley and Rolf Olsen Bursary and Aaron O’Hare is supported by the Anthony Evans Scholarship 
• WNO's Associate Artist scheme is in receipt of support from Joseph Strong Frazer Charitable Trust, Garrick Charitable Trust, The Fidelio Charitable Trust, and The Thriplow Charitable Trust 
• The Weston Jerwood Creative Bursaries 2020-2022 programme is designed and produced by Jerwood Arts. It is funded and supported by Arts Council England’s Transforming Leadership Fund, Garfield Weston Foundation, Art Fund, Arts Council of Wales, Creative Scotland, British Council, Jerwood Arts and PRS Foundation. 
• WNO’s Talent Development programme is supported by the Kirby Laing Foundation and the Bateman Family Charitable Trust
• WNO’s Youth, Community and Digital activity is supported by a generous gift from the Garfield Weston Foundation

For more information, photos or interviews please contact:

Penny James, Press Manager
penny.james@wno.org.uk

Christina Blakeman, Press Officer 
christina.blakeman@wno.org.uk