...you’re sure of a musical treat. Jane McGowan finds Surrey’s first opera house transformed
Twelve months ago, I found myself being steered round an almost empty shell of a building by a frenetic Wasfi Kani. It was then less than two years since the inimitable conductor and artistic director had approached Bamber Gascoigne, ex-host of University Challenge, with an intriguing proposal for an opera house in the garden of West Horsley Place, the author and broadcaster’s newly inherited Surrey pile.
That morning I was assailed by doubts. Gazing at the hole – for that is what it was – that would become the orchestra pit, while builders shoved into place the second-hand seating donated by Sir Cameron Mackintosh, one couldn’t help but wonder whether the curtain would really go up on Grange Park Opera’s West Horsley debut, supposedly just six weeks away.
But it did – very successfully. And today, a further year of building, painting and fine-tuning down the line, the company is back with a full summer programme for the delight of audiences in Surrey and beyond.
“Yes, it was super quick,” laughs Wasfi in her Camden office. “I think it was the fastest building of an opera house in history. We always knew we would get there and we did.
“It was tough though. There were certainly points at which we questioned what we had embarked upon. By last August the building team and I were practically dead, so we unanimously agreed to have a break. In fact, we may have taken a little more time off than we should.”
You can’t blame them. Wasfi and GPO had been sent packing from their former home in Hampshire as recently as 2015. One of the trustees, however, had read about the Gascoigne inheritance. Over coffee and an assortment of biscuits, the Grange Park team set out to persuade the broadcaster and his wife that their surprise acquisition held the key to the company’s success.
Needing no second bidding, the Gascoignes placed the 600-year-old, 50-bedroom manor house – Grade I listed and in chronic need of repair – into the hands of the newly created Mary Roxburghe Trust and gave Grange Park the run of the gardens. Cue the stunning, 700-seat Theatre in the Woods, built in the style of La Scala in Milan.
“It is unbelievably beautiful,” says Wasfi. “We didn’t want something that looked like an out-of-town Tesco. The diamond brick design required each brick to be placed individually at a 45° angle, which was incredibly time-consuming, but it looks wonderful. The back of the theatre is clad in timber, as it can be seen from a popular footpath. We’re surrounded by woodland, so we have tried our best to blend in.”
Passionate about the project, Wasfi has used her enthusiasm and boundless energy to squeeze every last drop out of patrons and supporters. This year’s project has been the toilet block – the lavatorium rotundum, verily – featuring a 1940s design with authentic wartime vending machines, personalised tiles (available at £1,500 a pop) and a moss roof to promote biodiversity. Nor, of course, is the moss just any old stuff – it’s from the garden of GPO patron and actress Joanna Lumley.
“I was moaning to Joanna about how you couldn’t buy moss in England,” recalls Wasfi. “She said: ‘My lawn is simply covered in it, so if you buy me a new lawn you can have my mossy one.’ So we did. She also threw in her old kitchen units, which we have in the rehearsal space. She’s been amazing; so supportive. We are very lucky to have her in our corner.”
So, with the auditorium complete – not to mention one of the most impressive toilet blocks in greater theatreland – it’s on with the show. What does the coming season hold, and will it appeal to Surrey’s discerning audiences.“Oh, there’s a fantastic mix. We’ve got Un ballo in maschera – a really big, big, ballsy, noisy Verdi, all about political assassinations – a very romantic French Roméo et Juliette, by Charles Gounod, and also a production of Oklahoma! We hope that will encourage those not sure about opera to come along and experience our theatre.
“Finally, we have Pushkin by Konstantin Boyarsky and librettist Marita Phillips. At least, that’s the plan, but it’s an all-Russian cast and orchestra, so I hope they are still allowed to come.”
As for Wasfi herself, she may still reside amid the bustle of Kentish Town, but Horsley exerts an ever-increasing pull on her heart.
“Moving the company here is the best thing we could possibly have done,” she says with relish. “Everyone has been so welcoming and warm. I must admit, each time my train pulls out of the station it gets that little bit harder to leave.”
For more details, visit: grangeparkopera.co.uk
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