Raise your glass to this pub opera

YOU rarely get the chance to see opera in West Cumbria.
And while the knee-jerk reaction of most people is ‘I don’t like opera’, most admit that’s partly because they’ve never seen it!
The revelation this month that the Arts Council spends £69 per head on its London friends and only £4.58 on Cumbrians probably means the chance of seeing opera or any quality arts this far north is remote.
So hats off to Whitehaven’s Rosehill Theatre whose Rosehill on the Road programme brought the Olivier Award winning opera La Boheme to Workington’s Carnegie Theatre.
This production by Opera Up Close originated from a determination to make opera accessible with a capital ‘A’ – by performing it in a pub and in English. It proved such a sensation that it progressed to bigger venues. That’s probably a pity but the performers retained the pub ethos by performing some of the show among the Carnegie audience.
They also modernised Puccini’s 19th century opera with references to Jamie Oliver and Primark! For much of the opera there were plenty of laughs but there’s no escaping this – like most operas – ends badly with Mimi dying from consumption. However, that means some indulgent pathos with delights such as Your Tiny Hand Is Frozen.
To hear such fantastic singing – the only accompaniment was a piano – was a real treat and no doubt left even first-time opera visitors wanting more. Will we see it up north? The odds are probably against it given the Arts Council’s London bias but check out the Rosehill programme for forthcoming visits to the area by Richard Suart, Victoria Simmonds and the Elias String Quartet.
La Boeheme was staged in association with the Carnegie 
Theatre. It was sponsored by Allerdale Borough Council as part of its cultural programme accompanying the Rugby League World Cup.
www.rosehilltheatre.co.uk