The concept for Co-Opera was created
after a direct request from a number of regional theatre managers who recognised
a gap in their schedules, and indeed the opera market, for a company which
would travel to small-medium sized venues. Co-Opera conceived of the need
to tour operatic works which would attract new audiences, by presenting
work from the mainstream operatic repertoire in new and innovative productions
tailored to the size of their theatres. The relationship between Co-Opera
and the venues has continued to flourish since its inception, with both
an increasing number of venues wanting the work and the number of dates
requested by each theatre increasing incrementally.
Co-Opera believes that opera is an
all-encompassing art form. The policy of this company is to be able to
present opera in Ireland, to as wide an audience as possible and in as
an accessible form as possible. The purpose of performing opera is to bring
the work to life; to make it's meaning resonate, to help the audience believe
in the truth and vitality of its message.
During the last 5 years, Co-Opera
has mounted 6 productions in a total of 94 performances to a combined audience
attendance of 28,004. La Traviata, Carmen, Die Fledermaus, Madama Butterfly,
The Soldier's Tale and La Boheme have all played to full houses and appreciative
audiences.
Performances have been held in venues
across the whole of Ireland, in towns and cities including ; Armagh, Blanchardstown,
Birr, Cashel, Cork, Derry, Dublin, Dun Laoghaire, Galway, Kilkenny, Letterkenny,
Longford, Limerick, Mullingar, Portlaoise, Sligo, Tallaght, Tralee, Waterford,
Wexford.
Two of Co-Opera's productions have
been presented internationally; Carmen in Corby (Cumbria) and Madama Butterfly
in Toshavn (Faroe Islands International Festival), and one, A Soldier's
Tale, was the result of a collaboration with the West Cork Chamber Music
Festival and was broadcast on Lyric FM.
The majority of Co-Opera's performances
are in theatre buildings but they have also pioneered outdoor performances
for corporate clients in the Cashel Palace Hotel and in the Merrion Hotel.
In 2002, a unique form of co-operation
between Co-Opera and The Bell Table Arts Centre has established Co-Opera
as the Resident Performing Arts Company in the Bell Table Arts Centre,
with responsibilities for devising and carrying out an imaginative and
thorough programme of the Arts Centre; for the further development of community
outreach and access work, and, for contributing to the management of the
Arts Centre as a whole.
Furthermore, there will be an establishment
of a series of community development initiatives based on long-term in-house
projects, such as community workshops, which will ultimately come to fruition
in performances which will be scheduled into the theatre programming.
Co-Opera's two seasonal opera productions
will be produced to their normal high standards but will be opened in the
Bell Table and toured nationally and internationally. As part of this collaboration
Co-Opera proposes that a company of resident singers be based in the Bell
Table Arts Centre on a full-time basis to work on in-house productions,
community, and access projects. They will be closely involved in the development
of an outreach and education programme specifically tailored for the community
in Limerick. Furthermore, as part of the Community Development Project,
Co-Opera will initiate an audience access and development programme which
would increase transparency in the project based opera and theatre productions
through a series of Pre-Show Talks, Question and Answer sessions with the
creative teams and access for schools/colleges/community groups during
rehearsals.
Besides it's customary two tours
a year, Co-Opera's 2003/2004 projects include yet another collaboration
with the Faroe Islands and an invitation to re-mount the production of
Carmen for the Vienna Chamber Opera. The Diary of One Who Disappeared by
Janacek in the new English verse form written by Seamus Heaney is planned
with West Cork Chamber Music Festival, leading up to the European City
of Culture in 2005, where Co-Opera will be presenting a number of Music-Theatre
works as well as a new production of La Finta Giardiniera by Mozart in
Co-Production with the Vienna Chamber Opera.
Michael Hunt
Director Co-Opera Ireland
Michael was born in 1957 and lived
most of his life in England. He now lives in Dublin, Ireland and directs
both theatre and opera. He is Artistic and General Director of Co-Opera,
the national touring company of Ireland. For Co-Opera he has directed highly
successful productions of La Traviata, Carmen and Die Fledermaus and La
Boheme. He has held the positions of Assistant Director - Liverpool Everyman
Theatre; Artistic Director - Cheltenham Arts Centre; Director - Man in
the Moon Theatre, London; Staff Director - English National Opera; Artistic
Director - Bloomsbury Festival; Director of Performing Arts - Riverside
Studios, London; and Associate Artistic Director - Cheltenham Everyman
Theatre. He has directed over 20 plays including: Anatol (Schnitzler),
Macbeth (Shakespeare), Steel Magnolias (Harling), The Caucasian Chalk Circle
(Brecht), Short Eyes (Pinero), Persuasion (adapted Healy), Lone Star and
Private Wars (McLure), Blue Remembered Hills (Potter), Amadeus (Shaffer),
The Changeling (Middleton) and Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare). Michael
has directed in a wide variety of venues, ranging from theatres throughout
England and on tour in Ireland as well as over 25 productions in opera
houses in Britain and Europe. These include Aida and Madam Butterfly for
English National Opera (where he was a staff director for three years),
Iolanthe for Scottish Opera, La Traviata for Opera Ireland, Cosi Fan Tutte
for Cheltenham Festival, Le Nozze di Cherubino (Swayne), The Consul (Menotti),
Tancredi and Don Carlos for Las Palmas. He has also directed large-scale
open-air productions of Maria Stuarda, Der Freischutz and Tosca. He directed
the Centenary arena production of La Boheme at the Royal Albert Hall in
London. His production of Oedipus Rex for Opera North and Scottish Opera
received many accolades and awards as did his many productions, working
with artists such as Pavarotti, Barstow, and Kudriavchenko. He has been
invited as a guest a new production of Tristan and Isolde in Tbilisi. He
has been a regular judge at the Belvedere Singing Competition in Vienna.
He has undertaken work with students in many spheres including the Royal
Academy of Music, the Royal College of Music, the Birmingham School of
Music. He has taught on the director's course at Central School of Speech
and Drama and the London Academy of Dramatic Art. He was the first external
examiner for the Diploma in Lighting Design at Central School (one of the
first such courses in the world). For many years he was a visiting tutor
in the Theatre Design Department of Wimbledon School of Art. This included
work on the M.A. and B.A. courses. He is a member of the Berwald
Committee in Stockholm and is a consultant to many arts organisations in
Europe including the Open Society Fund and Sorus Foundation in Prague.
Last year Michael directed The Importance of Being Earnest and A Doll's
House in Galway and on tour. He regularly broadcasts for Lyric FM, the
classical radio station for Ireland. Last year he directed La Boheme for
Co-Opera and made his American debut with a new production of The Pearl
Fishers in Portland, Oregon. Michael has recently been invited to the Chamber
Opera in Vienna, where he will supervise next year's ìFigaro Seasonî, directing
two of the productions. Future plans include Boris Godunov with Paata Bourchaladse
for Portland Opera, The Consul in Tbilisi and Oedipus Rex and Bluebeard's
Castle in Germany. His Co-Opera production of Carmen will be seen in Vienna
in 2002 as well as in Britain and Norway.
