Opera - The Finnish Prisoner

Everyone keeps asking me in the street: “Have you seen the Finnish Prisoner?” “Have you seen that new opera?” And the answer is, yes, I have. And I thought that it was an absolute triumph.
What a bold concept. A freshly written opera, set in Lewes, using a mixture between professional and amateur singers. In an old warehouse, converted for the very purpose.
The story jumps between the present day and the mid 1850s, when 150 Finnish prisoners were holed up in Lewes naval prison for a couple of years. A young DFL pops into a photography shop (clearly based on Reeves) with a picture of her great grandmother, which she wants to be developed. Her burgeoning romance with the photographer is juxtaposed with the distant relatives’ romance with one of the prisoners.
The result is a thoroughly watchable and at times moving narrative which mixes contemporary satire (the parking wardens get a right bashing) with love story. The choreography is imaginative, the singing is amazing, the acting is believable, and the music, written by Orlando Gough, is unforgettable. The four-piece orchestra, conducted by John Hancorn, added an unexpected tango twang to affairs. One song – an adaptation of a Finnish folk song which mentions the event – is still going on in my head two days later.
Afterwards there was a party at Lewes House, where Susannah Waters, who directed and organised the whole thing, gave a moving speech. Congratulations to her and everybody else involved. Now go get a ticket, if you possibly can.