THIRTY YEARS OF BAMPTON CLASSICAL OPERA

The 2016 ‘Arne-Air’ low-cost airport, and especially its post-interval transformation into the interior of a plane, complete with hostess trolley and a bifold-doored aircraft loo, was another Hall/Darke triumph.

Closely involved with sets are furniture and props, mostly stored in a rented container and garage in Bampton: strange and evocative collections of oddities. Pauline has scoured Bampton garages for strange things like chains, baskets, huge needles, tankards and “goodness knows what else”. Sourcing props is usually great fun! Haynes of Challow is often worth a visit – the origin of the antique wheelchair which we used in L’infedeltà delusa and recycled in 2022 in Fool Moon. Ebay is wonderful, producing anything from plastic fish to bouncing cupcakes. The loft of our garage at home is crammed with crates containing bouquets of artificial flowers, vintage telephones, crockery, baskets, weapons, umbrellas, oranges and snowballs. We have a set of air-hostess life-jackets, given us by Monarch Airlines, and used to devastating comic effect in a complete ‘safety routine’ by the rival goddesses Venus, Juno and Pallas in Arne’s glorious trio, “Turn to me, for I am she!” (The Judgment of Paris). Our newest Master of Properties is Andrew Collier, husband of our Vicar, Janice (who continues a warm welcome to us for our use of the church) – Andrew’s enthusiasm for handicraft is infectious. For Fool Moon he constructed a magnificent giant magnet and a signpost on the ‘moon’. Some props need to be borrowed such as a 12 footlong alphorn for Gluck’s Il parnaso confuso or, most memorably, a full-size and frighteningly authentic Dalek for The Philosopher’s Stone. The latter was built by an Oxfordshire undertaker, Chris Potter, who also operated it – in the dress rehearsal we discovered that he couldn’t see under stage lighting, and we had to choreograph a dancer to be always in front of him, and to add a projecting safety lip around the margins of the stage to avoid accident.

The labour of sourcing and creating costumes is immense. In the past Pauline Smith and Fiona Hodges (as volunteers) have borne the brunt of this, and we’re delighted that, after a few years using external costume professionals, Pauline returned to us last year with Fool Moon, ably assisted by Anne Baldwin. Pauline has a brilliant sense for