REVIEW: Opera Highlights Autumn 2025 – Village Theatre, East Kilbride

Opera Highlights is back for Autumn ’25 and this season it is taking the workplace as its relatable inspiration: watercooler moments, off-limits crushes, back-stabbing co-workers, office politics, drunken snogs and all those awkward moments we’d rather forget.

Laudably bringing opera to the entirety of the country, however remote, Opera Highlights from Sottish Opera is aimed at all ages and is as much for opera newbies as it is for opera buffs. To increase accessibility, the four singers Soprano Ceferina Penny,  Mezzo-soprano Chloe Harris, Tenor Luvo Maranti and Baritone James Geidt sing the entire production in English.

As usual, the music is curated from a range of operas, this time it’s highlights from Die Fledermaus, Pagliacci and Romeo and Juliet.

Kenneth MacLeod’s set is a star itself, certainly one of the more ambitious designs in recent years for this small scale travelling show.  Less successful is the choice of music. Sticking as it does to a theme has restricted the choices, and while some selections (Die Fledermaus) are particularly effective, others fall flat. The blame for many of these  flatter moments also lies squarely at the feet of some of the singers. Soprano  Penny and Baritone Geidt’s diction is poor, rendering the fact that it is sung in English pointless. Most successful are Scottish Opera Emerging Artists Chloe Harris and Luvo Maranti. Both have gorgeous tone, power and nicely judged acting skills that enhance the material. Both are ones to watch for the future.

Always worth watching, this may have been of interest to seasoned opera goers but arguably wasn’t the best choice of content to attract new audiences. Hopefully next season’s theme and musical choices will make it an evening of end-to-end highlights.

Continues to tour Scotland until 22 November | Images Sally Jubb