Photos: In Rehearsal With THE SIX OF CALAIS & RUTH By Pegasus Opera Staged At Susie Sainsbury Theatre

Pegasus Opera Company and Hagemann Rosenthal Associates presents a double bill The Six of Calais & Ruth at Susie Sainsbury Theatre, Royal Academy of Music, London, NW1 5HT. The productions will be staged on Friday 21 April 7.30pm, Saturday 22 April 7.30pm, Sunday 23 April 2.30pm. See photos from inside rehearsal!

In November 2022 Pegasus Opera Company was selected as one of the new Arts Council England (ACE) National Portfolio Organisations (NPO) who receive funding. This is the first co-production that the company have presented since announcing the exciting news.

The first opera in the double bill is The Six of Calais, adapted from George Bernard Shaw's play, which premiered in 1934 and featured Greer Garson. Shaw was inspired by Auguste Rodin's sculpture The Burghers of Calais which commemorates a moment during The Hundred Years' War when King Edward III of England offered to spare the lives of the people of Calais if six of their leaders surrendered themselves to him. In a contemporised production setting, after the unrepentant Peter Hardmouth berates him for his warmongering, King Edward resolves to sentence them all to death. His wife, Queen Philippa intercedes and demands that the burghers be treated kindly to avoid a bad omen being placed on her unborn child. Much bickering and light hearted chaos ensues and an unexpected family connection is revealed which convinces King Edward to spare the men's lives. The second opera of the double bill is Ruth, which sees Naomi and her husband Elimelech flee famine in Judah to seek a new life in Moab. They lived happily for many years and their two sons married Moab women, Orpah and Ruth. After Naomi's husband and sons die, Naomi tells her daughters-in-law that she must return to Judah to reclaim Elimelech's property. Orpah decides to remain in Moab, but Ruth decides to leave the life she knows behind and go with Naomi. Back in Judah, Naomi encourages Ruth to meet Boaz, a prominent land owner. Ruth and Boaz soon fall in love. However their future happiness is threatened when it is revealed that another landowner, Amnon, is first in line to claim Elimelech's property. When Amnon learns that he can only own Elimelech's land if he commits to sheltering Ruth and Naomi, he offers the property to Boaz instead. Boaz announces happily to the entire village that he will claim Elimelech's land and Ruth will be his wife, with everyone welcoming Ruth to their community. Both exciting adaptations will be staged in a modern day setting and look at themes of female power migration, loyalty and acceptance, as well as the rebirth of nature and human connections.

The Six of Calais & Ruth libretto and music is by Philip Hagemann, the conductor is Avishka Edirisinghe, he is acting chorus master at English National Opera and répétiteur at Opera Holland Park, the director is Cassiopeia Berkeley-Agyepong; with designed by Jida Akil and lighting designed by Chuma Emembolu. Composer Philip Hagemann's has a long standing association with Pegasus Opera Company and staged The Aspern Papers in Spring 2022; past successful double bills include Passion, Poison and Petrification and The Prodigal Son in 2021 plus Shaw Goes Wilde in 2019, all staged at the Susie Sainsbury Theatre, Royal Academy of Music. He also composed Ruth and The Dark Lady of The Sonnets at the Actors Church, Covent Garden in 2018. Hagemann has published 75 choral compositions including a delightful Christmas novelty, Fruitcake, written with Penny Leka Knapp, which featured in the USA television series Nip/ Tuck.

Photo Credit Oliver Alvin- Wilson

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