Nardus Williams and Elizabeth Karani in Opera Holland Park s The Marriage of Figaro
Credit: Ali Wright
The usual tiered seating at Opera Holland Park (OHP) has been replaced by an eclectic array of individual chairs. Perched on a small wooden specimen that resembles my mother’s dining-room furniture, I wonder whether I have unwittingly signed up to an immersive performance (the horror).
In fact, the new arrangement comprises props from past productions – which, ingeniously, means that OHP can organise bespoke configurations to fit with household bookings. However, spacing restrictions still result in a significantly reduced capacity: from 1,000 to just 400. As he introduces Oliver Platt’s new staging of The Marriage of Figaro, CEO James Clutton urges those who can to purchase an ‘invisible chair’ through their Save Our Seats scheme.
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