Opera Saturday

NEVER been to the opera? Get a taste of what you are missing for a snip of a ticket price at the open-air Opera for All performance of Tosca at The Racecourse Newbury on Saturday evening (6.30pm).
This will be the sixth production that Greenham Common Trust have hosted in partnership with Opera Brava. The touring production of Puccini’s Tosca tells of passion, jealousy, hypocrisy and religious tyranny at the turn of 19th century, all under the threat of imminent invasion by Napoleon’s army.
It includes a cast of exciting young stars, directed by Anthony Baker and Jeremy Silver.
The malevolent villain Baron Scarpia, Chief of Police, ruthlessly pursues and tortures enemies of the state. Escaped political prisoner Cesare Angelotti, a supporter of Bonaparte's invasion, takes refuge in his friend the painter Mario Carvadossi's villa. Here they try and hatch a plan for Angelotti to escape from Rome. Meanwhile, the singer Floria Tosca mistakenly believes her lover Cavaradossi is having an affair and is tricked into revenge by the evil Scarpia.
To make the most of the evening, take your own picnic. The performance will be staged in front of the grandstand. Guests are very welcome to bring their own chairs or sit on the grandstand steps or the artificial grass and picnic tables are provided.
A licensed bar will be available on the first floor of the grandstand which will be open from 6pm.
Tickets can be purchased from the Corn Exchange box office from the website www.cornexchangenew.com for £10 per adult (£12 on the gate), with children’s tickets free of charge.
The performance starts at 6.30pm with gates opening an hour before, and there’s free onsite parking available.
Owing to ongoing building work you are advised to arrive as early as possible.