2025

Vincenzo Bellini

English Touring Opera, premiere at Hackney Empire.

Creative Team

Director - Eloise Lally | Set & Costume - Lily Arnold | Lighting - Peter Harrison | Movement - Carmine de Amicis | Fight - Kaitlin Howard

Cast

Romeo - Samantha Price | Guiietta - Jessica Cale | Capellio - Tim Nelson

“Eloise Lally’s production is a bright feather in ETO’s cap. Her approach sheds formalities while steering clear of being another sterile modern reinterpretation — The Capulets & The Montagues is an unstuffy affair with plenty of sprezzatura’ - A Young(ish) Perspective ★★★★

“Eloise Lally’s mid-century Little Italy update for English Touring Opera is energetic and stylish. Replacing Renaissance Verona with fedoras, phone booths and bar-room brawls, she turns Bellini’s opera into a noir-inflected tale of conflict and desire.”
— The Guardian ★★★

 This production makes a strong case that this work can provide compelling drama even as it seduces you with the beauty of the human voice. And that’s what real operatic magic is all about” - —-— Bachtrack ★★★★

“An extremely stylish production'“ — The Stage ★★★★

“They, and Lally, present us with scuffed and shadowed vistas of patriarchy in decay, with the fragile, polished order of the diner gradually engulfed in rubbish and ruin” — TheArtsDesk ★★★★

“Don’t let the word ‘opera’ put you off because this performance crosses the boundaries of many different works and whatever your preferences if you love a good story – you’ll love this” — Mark Aspen ★★★★★