The Royal Opera: Così fan tutte

The Royal Opera brings Così fan tutte to Gloucester Guildhall on Tuesday 23 February 2027. It's a screening of the Mozart comedy, so you'll be seeing a production from the Royal Opera House projected onto the screen rather than a live cast on stage. The performance is sung in Italian with English subtitles, and it runs for 210 minutes with one interval.

If you're not familiar with the story, Così fan tutte first scandalised audiences in 1790. Two young men, spurred on by a bet, hatch a plan to test the fidelity of their girlfriends and plunge the four lovers into a dizzying world of shifting reality. It's a comedy of manners that's always sat somewhere between a romantic farce and a bit of a cruel joke, and this version leans into that.

Netia Jones, Associate Director of The Royal Opera, makes her Main Stage debut with this reimagining, where 18th-century romantic trickery meets deeply satirical high-tech deceit. The cast features Louise Alder as Fiordiligi, Simone McIntosh as Dorabella, Mingjie Lei as Ferrando, Huw Montague Rendall as Guglielmo, Gerald Finley as Don Alfonso, and Emily Pogorelc as Despina. Thomas Hengelbrock conducts.

It's screened at Gloucester Guildhall, the county's premier arts venue, built in 1890 on the site of Sir Thomas Rich's Blue Coat School and known as 'The County's Liveliest Venue'. Tickets start from £13.50, and since it's a screening, it's a good way to catch a full Royal Opera production without having to make the trip to Covent Garden. With the subtitles, you can follow the Italian as it goes.