Opera Will Hit The Streets Of Wimbledon And Beyond In August


A street opera version of Die Fledermaus will be performed

Street opera in Elys in Wimbledon in 2018

A street opera version of Die Fledermaus will be performed across Merton this August thanks to a joint project between the Wimbledon Foundation, the charity of the All England Lawn Tennis Club and The Championships, and Baseless Fabric.

The Merton-based company, who bring opera and theatre directly into public spaces, was the first organisation to receive funding from the Wimbledon Foundation’s Arts and Community Engagement (ACE) Fund launched in 2018. 

Baseless Fabric used the funding to create a street opera version of Johann Strauss’ Die Fledermaus which is being performed in more than 30 high street venues including cafes, pubs, train stations, supermarkets and libraries across the two boroughs.  

As part of the project, Baseless Fabric also worked with two young people's groups from a local primary and secondary school in partnership with Merton Music Foundation and local children’s charity Jigsaw4u to create and perform their own versions of the classic opera. 

Joanna Turner, Artistic Director of Baseless Fabric said: “Our high street adaptation of Die Fledermaus will enable everyone to experience high quality professional opera. Our performances aim to change attitudes to the art form and encourage people to realise that opera can be fun and not elitist, expensive, boring or irrelevant as it can often be perceived. We passionately believe music and theatre have the power build community and transform society.”

Helen Parker, Head of Wimbledon Foundation said, “We are delighted to be supporting Baseless Fabric and the way in which they make opera accessible for everyone from the very youngest to the very oldest in our community. We’re very much looking forward to seeing people experience the pop-up opera performances as they are waiting for the bus or doing their shopping.”

Performance times and dates: 

Thurs 1 Aug  5pm COLLIERS WOOD Starts at Savacentre / The Qube, SW19 1DD

Fri 2 Aug  11am POLLARDS HILL Starts at New Horizon Centre Cafe, CR4 1LT

Sat 3 Aug  1pm RAYNES PARK Starts at Waitrose, Raynes Park, SW20 0BS

Sat 3 Aug  5pm WIMBLEDON Starts at Elys, 16 St George’s Road, Wimbledon SW19 4DP. Last year's Elys show is pictured above.

Thu 8 Aug  5pm WANDSWORTH TOWN Starts at Southside Shopping Centre, SW18 4TQ

Fri 9 Aug  1pm MITCHAM Starts at Morrisons, Mitcham, CR4 2JS

Sat 10 Aug  1pm CLAPHAM JUNCTION Starts at ASDA, 204 Lavender Hill, Battersea, SW11 1JG

Sat 10 Aug  5pm WIMBLEDON VILLAGE Starts at Bayley & Sage, 60 High Street, Wimbledon, SW19 5EE

Tue 13 Aug  1pm MORDEN Starts at Oxfam, 31 London Road, Morden, SM4 5HT

Tue 13 Aug  5pm TOOTING BROADWAY Starts at Tooting Market, Tooting High Street, SW17 0SN

Wed 14 Aug  1pm ROEHAMPTON  Starts at Roehampton Library, 2 Danebury, Ave, SW15 4HD

Wed 14 Aug  5pm WIMBLEDON Starts at Elys, 16 St George’s Road, Wimbledon SW19 4DP.

July 29, 2019