When supermarket check-out girl Carmen brazenly flirts with the new security guard Don Jose, much to the confusion and embarrassment of his fiancée Micaela, things get even more complicated as Carmen’s ex-boyfriend turned TikTok celebrity Escamillo also shows up.
Follow our characters’ entangled love stories in this bold contemporary re-imagining of the classic Carmen story for London life today.
Baseless Fabric return to Grimeborn following 2019’s sell-out Die Fledermaus (★★★★ The Guardian, ★★★★ The Stage) and their recent Cosi Fan Tutte, which was an Off West End Award Finalist for Best Opera Production. With a re-imagined score for violin, accordion and bassoon by acclaimed young composer Leo Geyer of Bizet’s famous tunes and a colloquial contemporary English libretto by director and librettist Joanna Turner, this daring new production places Bizet’s characters directly on today’s high street.
Carmen is part of Grimeborn Opera Festival 2022. Explore the full programme →
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- Running time: 60 minutes (no interval)
- Warnings: Includes violence
- Accompanied by bassoon, violin and accordion
- Sung in English
Praise for Baseless Fabric's Die Fledermaus at Arcola Theatre (Grimeborn 2019):
★★★★ “a nimble 50- minute snapshot of modern life” – The Guardian
★★★★ “perfectly formed production” – The Stage