Gerald Barry’s opera ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ performed in Derry, Belfast, Cork and Dublin

Thu 3 Oct 2013

https___mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com_attachment_u_0_?ui=2&ik=7f75f456f7&view=att&th=1417e383&safe=1&zw&saduie=AG9B_P_Mus8_TgP4t7QIW7f6NcKV&sadet=1380810903461&sads=qP6Xr2PdCsKo9NebiqJUn0rBPUoThe Irish premiere of Gerald Barry’s new opera The Importance of Being Earnest will take place on 26 October at the Millennium Forum in Derry as part of the City of Culture celebrations. The performance marks the start of an all-Ireland tour which includes performances in Belfast (30 Oct), Cork (2 Nov) and Dublin (8, 9 Nov).

A co-production of NI Opera and Wide Open Opera (WOO), the opera is based on Oscar Wilde’s farcical comedy about sex and deceit, and includes an international cast led by Belfast-born Aoife Miskelly, with direction and design by Antony McDonald, and the Crash Ensemble conducted by Pierre-André Valade.

The opera was commissioned by the LA Philharmonic and the Barbican, and premiered in 2011 in Los Angeles by the LA Philharmonic. Described as “hysterically funny” by the LA Times and praised for its “sheer uninhibited exuberance” by the Guardian, the opera was performed in Birmingham and London in 2012 and London to much acclaim. The production by NI Opera and WOO is a brand new one, and is supported by Sarasin and Partners LLP.

See also: an article by Gerald Barry from 2012 about the opera

Listen to an interview with Gerald Barry by Bernard Clarke, originally broadcast by RTÉ lyric fm in June 2013 and reproduced by kind permission of RTÉ lyric fm
[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/114565229" width="100%" height="166" iframe="true" /]

Cast
Cecily Cardew - Aoife Miskelly
Hon. Gwendolen Fairfax - Jessica Walker
John Worthing - Peter Tantsits
Algernon Moncrieff - Joshua Bloom
Lady Bracknell - Stephen Richardson
Miss Prism - Hilary Summers
Lane/Merriman - Christopher Cull
Dr. Chasuble - Olwen Fouéré

Performances
October 26, 7.30pm – Millennium Forum, Derry~Londonderry
Tickets from £16 - £29.50. 028 7126 4455 / www.millenniumforum.co.uk

October 30, 7.30pm – Grand Opera House, Belfast
Tickets from £16 - £30. 028 9024 1919 / www.goh.co.uk

November 2, 8.00pm – Cork Opera House
Tickets from €26 - €41. 021 427 0022 / www.corkoperahouse.ie

November 8 and 9, 8.00pm – Gaiety Theatre, Dublin
Tickets from €25 - €45. 0818 719388 / www.gaietytheatre.ie