Coming up...
In Five Years' Time
‘Drama in song’ based on an experimental play by Spain’s favourite poet, Federico García Lorca.
This surreal work explores themes of love, identity, decay and death, yet does so in the manner of a fairy tale, clothed in fun and topsy-turviness. Lorca himself said his dream-world was impossible to stage, but The Music Troupe has put together a cast of 8 wonderful singers to bring this operatic cabaret to life in the atmospheric surroundings of The Space Theatre in London's East End.
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The Space Theatre
269 Westferry Road London E14 3RS Tuesday 24 to Friday 27 Feb 2026
at 19:00 Saturday 28 Feb at 16:00 Croft Hall, Hungerford
RG17 0HY Sunday 1 March 2026
at 16:30 |
Cast:
Rosalind Dobson, Lucy Gibbs, Mae Heydorn, Fiona Hymns, Jean-Maz Lattemann, Chris Murphy, James Schouten, Thomas Stevenson Music: Edward Lambert Words: adapted by the composer after the play Así que pasen cinco años by Federico García Lorca (1931) Musical Director / Piano: Alistair Burton Accordion: Jing Jia Lighting: Simon Pike Movement: Jenny Weston Stage Director: Walter Hall The performance lasts about 1 hour 50 minutes (including an interval) More info ----> |
Recently...The Rapture: Donald's Crusade looked at political power and US foreign policy that is influenced by Christian Zionists who believe in Armageddon. This performance at The Cockpit, London marked our tenth appearance in Tête-à-Tête: The Opera Festival.
The Music Troupe gratefully acknowledges the recent support of the following trusts and foundations:
Vaughan Williams Foundation The Marchus Trust Gemma Classical Music Trust The Fidelio Charitable Trust The Greenham Trust Our productions' associated workshops have been sponsored by the Geller Institute of Ageing and Memory at the University of West London 
The Duchess of Padua at The Space, London and other venues
"Lambert’s music is spot on, fusing a traditionally dynamic Bel Canto score without feeling the least bit dated. It is always dramatic and flows seamlessly… glimpses of stunning beauty in the love-focused duets and arias... a tight score that never drops the excitement, Lambert’s gothic-inspired music fits so well, and the performers do such a strong job, that it is difficult not to enjoy it." (Broadway World) |
Masque of Vengeance at The Cockpit, London and The Stoller Hall, Manchester "... a taut and driven eighty minutes in which there is very little dead time. Powered along by a dynamic, pulsating score for piano duet, with soaring bel canto vocals and dramatic recitatives, there was never a dull moment to be experienced..." (Planet Hugill, November 2023) 
Our most slimmed-down operas have been The Parting & Buster's Trip for 3 singers and accordion performed September 2024 at Tête-à-Tête: The Opera Festival
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The Music Troupe was founded in 2014 by composer Edward Lambert and colleagues to perform, amongst other things, new small-scale operas. We wanted to bring back the art of beautiful singing into pieces that are designed for smaller spaces: works that aren't scaled-down productions of grand opera but new chamber operas in which the music and drama are tailored, not trimmed, to an intimate experience. We want our shows to be as entertaining as they are economical. 15 productions later, the group has given valuable opportunities to a wide range of over 100 performers and creatives (see below). We have delivered performances in Manchester, Brighton, Yorkshire and Berkshire as well as London, and given workshops in schools and for those living with dementia. In 2020 we made a unique opera movie on location. We have further projects in the pipeline and are keen to secure funding to support an expansion of our activities.
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”…the next generation is looking to buy their vegetables at a farmers' market, not a supermarket. They want that taste, that crunch, that flavour. I think they're looking for more intimate musical experiences where you're close enough to taste the quality of the work. Opera can operate on many different levels, for many different metabolisms and on many different social scales and that diversity is a very good thing."
Peter Sellars, The Independent, 26/02/2015 The Music Troupe is a registered charity no. 1161386 Trustees: Ian Caddy, Susan Holmes, Richard Foster, Jenny Weston BEM Thank you to all the artists, venues, audiences and funders who have supported us. |
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The Butterfly's Spell
In the world of insects, a Poet Beetle rejects the love of the devoted Sylvia in favour of an impossible infatuation with a fragile Butterfly whose destiny it is to fly away. A sad tale, but a comic opera which also features a drunken Scorpion, an overbearing Mother and Two Fireflies which glow in the dark. Suitable for all ages. From an early play by Lorca. Cast of 7; accompanied by an ensemble of 7 instruments 70 mins more info → |
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Swellfellow the Tyrant
King Swellfellow is a tyrannical dictator who gorges himself while his subjects starve. Can he and his sleazy ministers cling to power when the Countess returns from exile? And whose side will the Press be on? Still pertinent today 200 years after it was written, Shelley's satire is here made into an opera which is as comic as it is bizarre Written for community performance with some roles for amateur singers Cast of 10 and chorus; accompanied by an ensemble of 7 instruments 80 mins more info → |
