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| Handel: Messiah – Wild Arts at Smith Square Hall in 2024 (Photo: Steve Gregson) |
We caught Wild Arts’ dramatised presentation of Handel’s Messiah at the Art Workers’ Guild in London in 2023 [see my review] in a staging devised by Tom Morris. The company brought the production back for a tour in 2024 and it now returns for a third time.
Orlando Jopling directs a period instrument ensemble from the harpsichord with eight singers, Sofia Kirwan-Baez and Joanna Songi soprano, Martha Jones and Kate Symonds-Joy mezzo, Guy Elliott and Harry Jacques tenor, Timothy Nelson baritone, and Edward Hawkins bass, with many of the singers having performed in those first performances in 2023. The singers perform from memory, with choruses sung by all eight and solos shared. The results have a palpable sense of dramatic narrative.
This year, the tour kicks off at the Festival Theatre, Malvern (2 December) and then visits Smith Square Hall, London (9 December), New Theatre, Peterborough (11 December), Layer Marney Tower (14 December), Chichester Cathedral (16 December) and Chelmsford Cathedral (18 December). Many venues sold out last year and this year at least one has done so already!
Full details from the Wild Arts website.
