Opera life on and off stage at Brighton Fringe

Destination: ‘Old Hag’ will be at SQUEAK @ The Rotunda for the Brighton Fringe on Saturday, May 10 and at the Chichester City Arts Centre for the Chichester Fringe on Sunday, June 8.

Set in a theatre broom cupboard, next to the building’s only toilet, Destination: ‘Old Hag’ draws on the their 20-plus years in the world of opera as they play the ‘Ladies of the Chorus’ – ie the witches – getting ready for the opening night of Verdi’s Macbetto.

“The idea is that we go backstage, with the play mostly told in real time from the half hour call until they go on stage, and you watch us get ready as we talk and mull over middle age.” Samantha says. “We're talking about life. We have reached a point where we think have we really achieved the career that we wanted; have we fulfilled the dreams we had when we first set out and left college. You go to a prestigious college and you leave and you think ‘Here we go!’ but 20 years later have you achieved what you wanted to achieve? Life's obstacles get in the way, like family and jobs and house and menopause! All the things that trip us up along the way or delay us in achieving what we want to achieve.

“So really it's about the way that as we get older, our dreams evolve and change shape. Is it a compromise? If we're happy, does it matter?

“You get ten to 15 minutes and then the half-hour call and then you go through in real time and then we transform and go on stage to sing the beginning of the opera. Through low-budget theatre magic you see us go from backstage to onstage and that's the piece, about 55 minutes.

“I am the author working with my wonderful, talented friends that are singing with me. Bridget and I have worked over the years together. Penny and I have been friends forever. We are all professional performers, and it was one of those things where I had a little bit of time. I just thought this is the moment to attempt this writing thing that I've always wanted to do. Bridget and Penny came in and helped bring it to shape and together we created this story. We get to tell our stories of 20-plus years in the opera industry but what is also important is dispelling this idea that opera is somehow an elite sport. So many people feel that it is not for them but I would say that really opera is the Olympics of the arts. You will never hear voices like it.

“What I want this piece to be is to be about ordinary women who are doing extraordinary things. We are very ordinary women that happen to have, dare I say, great voices. We've done a few shows now. We pemiered at the Bath Fringe last year and we were also in Birmingham and the most wonderful thing in Birmingham was that we had quite a few young members of the audience saying ‘I never thought opera was for me or for the likes of me before!’ They were saying ‘You've really opened our eyes to it! I had never thought about opera before!’”

Tickets from the Brighton Fringe and from the Chichester Fringe.