St Mary’s church resounded to the strains of Gilbert and Sullivan last Saturday evening as Opera Anywhere performed one of the most popular works in the canon of English comic opera, The Pirates of Penzance or The Slave of Duty. The audience of over one hundred was enthusiastic in its appreciation of the show.
Opera Anywhere is renowned for performing unique versions of operas, old and new, in unusual and interesting locations. The space restrictions of St Mary’s would present a challenge to any company performing a full scale opera, but Opera Anywhere were equal to it and the excellent ten-strong cast delivered a rousing and inventive interpretation.
The show was presented by The Friends of St Mary’s. The charity has been organising events in the village for more than twenty years, raising funds to help maintain the fabric of the church and to provide ‘extra’ facilities when Parochial Church Council funds are stretched. It was a major contributor to the recent church extension.
Now that the church boasts new toilet and servery facilities, it is hoped that more village groups will take advantage of it and make it a regularly used community venue.
We really enjoyed this performance and hope more such events will follow.
As someone who has a vested interest in the Church building being used by the community it was a great pleasure to host this event. Now that we have a loo (after a mere 9 centuries!) the building is now well suited to being able to do this. I look forward to similar events and a repeat visit by this company.