Opera in the house

Bianca Andrew and Anita Hunziker both play the same character, Anna, in Opera/Fabula’s production of The Seven Deadly Sins.

CITIZENS who don’t like going to the theatre have it made this week.
With Silo Theatre’s production of Did I Believe it? on at Foxglove bar, and Revolver circus at Estadio, you won’t have to go anywhere near a theatre for a theatrical experience.
Now opera is getting in on the act with a new operatic production shunning the theatre stage for a heritage home in Thorndon. Newly formed company, Opera/Fabula, is presenting Kurt Weill and Bert Brecht’s dance-opera The Seven Deadly Sins at The Moorings, a 105 year old home on Glenbervie Terrace. Producer and director, Steven Whiting, says it’s bringing opera to the people.
“We wanted to take opera out of the massive venues with the big orchestras separating the audience from the performers,” Whiting says.
And intimate it will be. The production will take place in the home’s ballroom, built in 1933, the same year as Weill and Brecht penned their work.
“There will be standing room only for the audience and we won’t know until dress rehearsal how many we’ll fit into the room. The challenge is to present opera that is intimate without being too in your face,” Whiting says.
The Seven Deadly Sins tells the story of Anna, sent out by her family to work her way across America to pay for the family home they are building in Louisiana.
In Opera/Fabula’s production Anna is performed by mezzo-soprano Bianca Andrew and contemporary dancer Anita Hunziker from Footnote Dance.
Opera/Fabula’s The Seven Deadly Sins, The Moorings, 31 Glenbervie Terrace Thorndon, May 13-20.