Is the Royal Opera House singing for its supper?
MADELINE HOLT: A tragedy of bourgeois morality. La Traviata that is, not the Royal Opera House. But two years ago, Covent Garden was condemned as shambolic, incompetent and elitist. The official report by the theatre director Sir Richard Eyre, said the way forward was access, getting new audiences to justify its vast grants. Beneath the main auditorium, some of Eyre’s ideals are being brought to life. This is the Linbury Theatre, a new space for performers new to the opera house. These children, rehearsing Coppelia, are from 50 London schools. DEBORAH BULL: The opera house should serve as a resource for the wider arts community. The major difference this year is that we’ve been able to invite companies to the Linbury as our guests in effect. They pay no costs. There’ve been 233 performances in the Linbury. HOLT: Covent Garden has been trying to find out just who it’s attracting in its reincarnated form. It’s done market research, and given it to Newsnight. In its first season, up to 18
