All performances of The Return of Ulysses are sold out. Recent government announcements have suggested that summer may bring new guidelines around social distancing. If we are able to add additional capacity to any of our performances we will announce this through our mailing list.
Penelope is besieged by nefarious suitors, keen to declare Ulysses dead and seize power over Ithaka. Ulysses finally arrives home, in disguise – and Penelope promises to accept the man who can string Ulysses’ great bow.
Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria (The Return of Ulysses to his Homeland) is Monteverdi’s beautiful, compassionate drama of homecoming. Robert Howarth conducts early music specialists La Serenissima; and Longborough’s Artistic Director Polly Graham makes her festival debut.
For a taste of what's to come, watch the short animated film by illustrator Amber Cooper-Davies, directed by Polly.
POLLY GRAHAM TAPPED INTO THE WORK’S IMPLICIT THEATRICALITY AND MODERNITY TO CREATE A STAGING THAT HELD ONE CAPTIVE AND CAPTIVATED THROUGHOUT
Opera magazine, Le Vin herbé (WNO 2017)
For three of our productions in 2021 – Mozart’s Così fan tutte, Monteverdi’s The Return of Ulysses, and Janacek’s The Cunning Little Vixen – we’ll be introducing a new venue to the festival: the Big Top.
This indoor/outdoor space offers different and exciting theatrical possibilities for our creative teams. We can’t wait to see what they come up with to draw you into the worlds of these operas. The Big Top gives us excellent seating flexibility, allowing for a larger socially distanced audience than our theatre can offer.
* all timings are approximate
