Damp squib

Carmen
Royal Opera House

What is an opera house for? The question would sound silly if it weren’t being asked in a particular and, in this case, rather peculiar context: that of the latest press release from the Royal Opera, which lists productions of opera and ballet for next season, but begins by excitedly letting us know about a new ‘initiative’, the idea of which is to attract a new audience to the opera house: it seems that the management is more concerned to get people inside the building itself than to attend any performances of the kind that normally take place there. So we’re told ‘Deloitte Ignite opens alongside the launch of the 2008/9 season and is aimed at London’s [note the usual indifference to anyone living outside London] artistically curious; young professionals who may or may not yet have considered the Royal Opera House as somewhere for them. Spaces within the Opera House building will come alive with diverse creativity inspired by the senses, how we experience the world and create meaning from it, taking the traditional art forms of opera and ballet as a starting point.’