Rigoletto

Opera North are bringing Verdi's Rigoletto to the Theatre Royal on Grey Street, with performances running from Wednesday 4 to Friday 6 November. It's a three-night stand on the Main Stage, and there are English subtitles, so you don't need to know your Italian to follow the story.

For those who haven't seen it, Rigoletto is one of Verdi's big ones—a story of love, lust and betrayal based on Victor Hugo's Le roi s'amuse. It first went up at La Fenice in Venice on 11 March 1851, with music by Verdi and lyrics by Francesco Maria Piave. The plot centres on the jester Rigoletto, a hunchback who leads a double life: a despised outcast inside a corrupt court, and a loving, fiercely protective father outside it. When those two worlds collide, bitterness and a quest for revenge drive him to outrun a curse, and the story ends in tragedy when his daughter Gilda sacrifices herself to save the man she still loves.

This particular production is directed by Femi Elufowoju Jr and premiered in 2022, and it's currently touring the UK. It's a re-imagining of the jester's two worlds, and it's picked up some strong reviews along the way: The Telegraph called it 'a bold, innovative and purposeful re-imagining', Bachtrack described it as 'a landmark production... spectacular' and The Guardian called it 'chillingly excellent'.

On stage, Blake Denson and Siphe Kwani share the title role of Rigoletto, with Raven McMillon, Jasmine Habersham and Yolisa Ngwexana as Gilda, and Leonardo Sánchez and Luke Norvell as the Duke of Mantua. Callum Thorpe plays Sparafucile, Alyona Abramova is Maddalena, Helen Évora is Giovanna, and Sir Willard White takes on Count Monterone. The music is led by conductors Patrick Lange and Oliver Rundell, with Rae Smith on set and costume design, Howard Hudson on lighting, and Jackie Kibuka as choreographer. Each performance starts at 7pm and runs for 2 hours 40 minutes, including an interval, and tickets start from £20, which includes a £2.50 booking fee.