Opera Theatre Company stages Rossini's enigmatic classic with a dynamic production which balances an extraordinary mix of tragedy and comedy - an opera buffa with realistic emotional truth at its core. Although based on the children's story we know and love, Rossini's opera is not sentimental or predictable: it has no fairy godmother, pumpkin carriage or glass slippers. Instead the magic comes from the human heart.

Belfast director Annilese Miskimmon (Glyndebourne, ENO, WNO) creates a sophisticated 1950's setting full of dramatic wit and glittering music for the infamous (half-) sisters, played by Irish stars Anne Marie Gibbons (OTC's Ariodante), Elizabeth Woods (The Love Potion) and Bridget Knowles. Andrew Mackenzie-Wicks (Welsh National Opera's Almaviva) and Eric Roberts (Scottish Opera and Opera North's Dr Bartolo) join baritones Owen Gilhooly and Matthew Hargreaves to complete the cast. Fergus Sheil (OTC's The Lighthouse) conducted Rossini's vivacious score.

"Deft, lucid and very funny". 
The Irish Times 

A population is fleeing a terrible catastrophe. Seven disparate survivors stumble upon a calm clearing in a forest and form an uneasy alliance. There are rumours of a prophet. His name is Thwaite. Is he among them? And if so, which of them is he? Their uneasy truce unravels as they attempt to find out.

On September 23rd and 24th OTC will present the award winning Thwaite by Irish composer Jurgen Simpson and writer Simon Doyle in Dublin’s Project theatre. Having emerged from a pool of 210 Entries worldwide, it is one of only three successful projects to be commissioned by the Genesis Foundation and Almeida Opera for performance in London.

Essentially Thwaite is a black comedy set in a bleak post-Holocaust world.

The composer has fused his music with the dynamics of a libretto that can jump from the absurdly funny to the darkest areas of the human psyche in an instant. Classical instruments combine with electronics to create an almost symphonic breadth of expression. Despite the contemporary nature of the work, it moves seamlessly between the sound worlds of different periods and styles to create a disquieting yet surreally beautiful music.

Hailed for its “edgy originality' and the ‘completely persuasive,’ ‘splendidsymbioses’ that Simpson and Doyle have created, the now prestigious piece promises to be a memorable experience for all opera lovers.

Hamelin is a collaboration between Ireland’s most prolific young composer, Ian Wilson and Forward Prize Nominee, poet and novelist Lavinia Greenlaw.

A mysterious and compelling tale, Hamelin explores what happened after the pied piper left the fabled village. A crippled young girl (soprano Natalie Raybould) is stranded, her only companions are a sinister doctor (bass John Milne) and an equally shady town Mayor (tenor Eugene Ginty). The warped relationship between the three  expose the disturbing world of a medieval town ravaged by famine and plague.

"Hamelin is disclosing itself in rehearsal as a work of subtle genius and is destined to be one of the year's most talked about cultural happenings. Ian Wilson's score is both moving and beautiful.” Andrew McLellan, CEO Opera Theatre Company.

Wilson & Greenlaw have created a work of stunning symbioses to rival any opera written in recent times. Whilst a dark undercurrent prevails throughout, it is the contrast of the music's lyrical beauty that really highlights the more delicate intricacies of the story.

The new production will be directed by Gavin Quinn of Pan Pan Theatre with lighting and costumes by Aedín Cosgrove and set by award-winning sculptor Andrew Clancy. David Brophy who so rousingly directed the National Symphony Orchestra for the opening of the Special Olympics will conduct the OTC Ensemble and cast members Eugene Ginty, John Milne and Natalie Raybould in her OTC debut. John Milne and Eugene Ginty will be well remembered for their haunting performances in Peter Maxwell Davies' The Lighthouse.

Conducted by David Brophy, Directed by Gavin Quinn, Designed by Andrew Clancy, Costume and Lighting by Aedín Cosgrove. Cast: Eugene Ginty, John Milne, Natalie Raybould, Michael d’Arcy (violin), Maeve Sheil (dbl. Bass), Cliona Doris (harp), Susan Doyle (bass/alto flute), Conor Sheil (clarinet), Michael O’Toole (guitar), Bernard Reilly (percussion)

Following its international success with Handel opera productions (New York, Paris, Melbourne, Edinburgh, London) Opera Theatre Company presents this stunning baroque masterpiece with an Irish period instrument orchestra.

Featuring one of Handel's most brilliant scores, Ariodante is a strong, stark drama set on the cold Scottish coast. This new production is directed by James Conway, designed by Michael Vale (ROH, ENO, and Glyndebourne) and lit by Aideen Malone. David Adams conducts a cast including OTC's Rodelinda stars Helen Williams, Jonathan Peter Kenny and Nicholas Sears, together with Jonathan Best and two of Ireland's most exciting emerging talents, Anne-Marie Gibbons and Sinead Campbell.

International praise for OTC's 1999 production of Handel's Rodelinda:

"A truly unmissable staging of one of Handel's greatest operas". Hugh Canning Sunday Times

"This superior Rodelinda set a standard, one that the Metropolitan will be pressed to surpass in 2003-2004 when its production reaches the stage" New York