Grimeborn is an annual musical theatre and opera festival held at Arcola Theatre in Dalston, East London. It was founded by Arcola Theatre's artistic director Mehmet Ergen in 2007. It takes place in and around August, and tends to showcase new and experimental works alongside radical productions of classic opera, using both the Arcola's performing stages.
History
The festival's name is a punning reference to the world famous East Sussex Glyndebourne Opera Festival. The "grime" element refers to the "dirtier" backdrop of the Arcola Theatre, a converted textile factory in the congested bustle of Hackney as opposed to the scenic gardens of East Sussex.
Originally, Grimeborn was devised as a contemporary contribution to the Battersea Arts Centre's (BAC) Opera Festival. The BAC Opera Festival's Artistic Director at the time, Tom Morris, asked Ergen, who was working at the BAC as an Associate Producer, to create something different from normal operatic preconceptions in a manner similar to Tête à Tête, who were also taking the stage at the BAC Opera Festival that year. Grimeborn became an opera and musical theatre festival in its own right, with the Arcola Theatre its exclusive host.
Past performances 2025
Opera Composer Production company Conductor / Music director Director Designer Testament Claudio Monteverdi / Leoš Janáček / Libby Larsen / Thomas Weelkes Green Opera Alex Raineri Tobias Millard Kit Hinchcliffe The Elixir of Love (Re‑imagined) Gaetano Donizetti Baseless Fabric Theatre Leo Geyer Joanna Turner Marina Hadjilouca Jane Eyre John Joubert (adaptation) Arcola Theatre / Green Opera Eleanor Burke Tristan und Isolde Richard Wagner ShatterBrain Productions / Regents Opera Ltd Michael Thrift Guido Martin‑Brandis Caitlin Abbott Sense & Sensibility: The Musical Don Giovanni Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Ensemble OrQuesta Marcio da Silva / Beth Fitzpatrick / Andreas Levisianos Marcio da Silva Becoming Tosca Giacomo Puccini (with new music by Frank Moon) Prologue Opera Lesley Anne Sammons Rebecca Marine Viva Halton‑Wright Lucia di Lammermoor Gaetano Donizetti Barefoot Opera Laurence Panter Rosie Kat Fenna de Jonge
2024
Opera Composer Production company Conductor / Music director Director Designer Der Vampyr Heinrich August Marschner Gothic Opera Kelly Lovelady Julia Mintzer La Bohème Giacomo Puccini The Opera Makers and Arcola Theatre Panaretos Kyriatzidis Becca Marriott Becky‑Dee Trevenan and Nao Nagai Mr Punch at the Opera The Opera Makers Becca Marriott Le Nozze di Figaro Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Ensemble OrQuesta Kieran Staub Marcio da Silva 555: Verlaine en Prison Green Opera Eleanor Burke Plantaiona Edward Jessen Phaedra Ensemble La Traviata Giuseppe Verdi Barefoot Opera Laurence Panter Alfie Chesney & Michael Spenceley Jane Bruce
2023
Opera Composer Production company Conductor / Music director Director Designer The Merry Wives of Windsor Otto Nicolai Queer Voices (Skeive Stemmer) Knut Eirik Jensen Lars Harald Maagerø; Kristin Lundemo Overøye Fridtjof Brevig (set & costumes); Stuart Glover (lighting) No for an Answer Marc Blitzstein Arcola Theatre Mehmet Ergen La Cenerentola Gioachino Rossini Barefoot Opera Trouble in Tahiti Leonard Bernstein Olivia Tait Finn Lacey Beri Valentine Loyola Domenico Zipoli El Parnaso Hyspano A&E Muelas + Ward Turandot Giacomo Puccini Panaretos Kyriatzidis Becca Marriott Céphale et Procris Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre Ensemble OrQuesta Márcio da Silva Márcio da Silva Márcio da Silva Brontë Lisa Logan (based upon a play by Polly Teale) Keynote Opera Alex Ingram Katharina Kastening Ashley Martin Davies/ Andrew May The Mikado Arthur Sullivan / W. S. Gilbert Charles Court Opera David Eaton John Savournin Le portrait de Manon / L’heure espagnole Jules Massenet / Maurice Ravel
2022 +Opera Composer Production Company Conductor or Music Director Director Designer L’Incoronazione di PoppeaClaudio MonteverdiEnsemble OrQuestaMarcio da SilvaBlack, el payasoPablo SorozábalThe Cervantes TheatrePaula PazSiegfriedRichard Wagner (adaptation by Jonathan Dove & Graham Vick)Arcola Theatre / Hackney EmpirePeter Selwyn Julia BurbachBettina JohnGötterdämmerungRichard Wagner (adaptation by Jonathan Dove & Graham Vick) Arcola Theatre / Hackney EmpirePeter Selwyn Julia BurbachBettina JohnCarmen (re-imagined)Georges Bizet (re-imagined by Leo Geyer)Baseless Fabric TheatreLeo Geyer Joanna TurnerMarina HadjiloucaThe Boatswain’s MateEthel SmythSpectra EnsembleCecilia StintonThe Magic FluteWolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Lindsay Bramley version)Opera AlegríaBenjamin Newhouse-SmithChristopher KillerbyBluebeard’s CastleBéla BartókGreen OperaJohn Paul Jennings Eleanor BurkeEmeline BeroudSumida RiverKanze Motomasa (traditional)What More? ProductionsThe Bear / And I DecidedWilliam Walton / Daniel FelsenfeldOpera at HomeThe Unravelling Fantasia of Miss H.Red Gray & Sarah NicollsStitched-up-theatreH.M.S. PinaforeArthur Sullivan / W. S. GilbertEmma Jude Harris Emma Jude HarrisSin the MusicalJohn Michael Maloney Dmii Productions
2021 +Opera Composer Production Company Conductor or Music Director Director Designer Die Valkure Richard Wagner Arcola Theatre in partnership with Hackney Empire Peter Selwyn Julia Burbach Bettina John Alcina George Frideric Handel Ensemble OrQuesta Stephanie Gurga Marcio da Silva Hopes & Fears Claude DebussyThe Opera Makers Panaretos KyriatzidisJorge Balsa Alexander Ridgers Orfeo ed Euridice / Zanetto (Double Bill) Christoph Willibald Gluck / Pietro Mascagni Barefoot Opera Lesley-Anne SammonsLysanne van OverbeekBettina John
2019 Opera Composer Production company Conductor or Music Director Director Designer A Hand of Bridge /Sands of Time /Le 66 Samuel Barber, Peter Reynolds, Jacques Offenbach Irrational Theatre Peter Jones Paula Chitty Paula Chitty Aurora Noah Mosley Bury Court Opera Noah Mosley Aylin Bozok Holly Piggott Cabildo Amy Beach Jessie Anand productions John Warner Emma Jude Harris Max Nicholson-Lailey Count Ory Gioachino Rossini Opera Alegría Lindsay Bramley Ben Newhouse-Smith Das Rheingold Richard Wagner, in a reduced version by Jonathan Dove and Graham Vick Arcola Theatre Peter Selwyn Julia Burbach Bettina John Die Fledermaus Johann Strauss II, adapted by Leo Geyer Baseless Fabric Theatre Leo Geyer Joanna Turner Joanna Turner Don Jo Arcola Participation Queer Collective (after Mozart) Arcola Participation Nick Bonadies Leo Doulton Hippolyte et Aricie Jean-Philippe Rameau Ensemble OrQuesta Marcio da Silva Christian Hey Hotspur /Pierrot Lunaire Gillian Whitehead /Arnold Schoenberg formidAbility & SignDance International Scott Wilson Sara Brodie Sara Brodie I Capuleti e i Montecchi Vincenzo Bellini Over the Pond Kelvin Lim Lysanne van Overbeek Leyla Gencer: La Diva Turca (documentary film) Zeynep Oral (writer) IKSV (Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts) Selçuk Metin Miss Havisham's Wedding Night /Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson Dominick Argento /Aaron Copland Great Expectations David Eaton Ralph Bridle Amy Watts Origami Soundscapes /The Crane Verity Lane Verity Lane Verity Lane Sane and Sound Matt Geer Sane and Sound Opera Company Finan Jones Katie Bunting Sam Harris Silk Moth /The Heart's Ear /Bel Canto Bushra El-Turk /Liza Lim /Cassandra Miller Ruthless Jabiru Kelly Lovelady Heather Fairbairn Charlotte Henery Treemonisha Scott Joplin Spectra Ensemble Matthew Lynch Cecilia Stinton Raphaé Memon Violetta Giuseppe Verdi (reduced version of La traviata) Opera Allegra William Green Ashley Pearson Martin Berry
2018 List not complete: awaiting further additions Opera Composer Production company Conductor or Music Director Director Designer Greek (30th anniversary production) Mark-Anthony Turnage Arcola Theatre Tim Anderson Jonathan Moore Baśka Wesołowska Lucia di Lammermoor Gaetano Donizetti Fulham Opera Ben Woodward Sarah Hutchinson Anna Yates The Prometheus Revolution Keith Burstein Fulham Opera Ben Woodward Sophie Gilpin Sunny Smith The Boatswain's Mate Ethel Smyth Spectra Ensemble John Warner Cecilia Stinton Christianna Mason Elephant Steps Stanley Silverman Patrick Kennedy Theatre Machine Nathan Jarvis Patrick Kennedy Patrick Kennedy
2017 List not complete: awaiting further additions Opera Composer Production company Conductor or Music Director Director Designer Armide Jean-Baptiste Lully Ensemble OrQuesta Marcio da Silva Marcio da Silva Porgy and Bess George Gershwin Samson and Delilah Camille Saint-Saëns Arcola Theatre Kelvin Lim Aylin Bozok Aylin Bozok The Diary of One Who Disappeared Leos Janáček Shadwell Opera Matthew Fletcher Jack Furness Jack Furness
2015 List not complete: awaiting further additions Opera Composer Production company Conductor or Music Director Director Designer The Medium /The Wanton Sublime Peter Maxwell Davies /Tarik O'Regan Opera Room Productions Andrew Griffiths Robert Shaw Gillian Argo Daphne Richard Strauss Opera at Home José Manuel Gandia José Manuel Gandia Gala Ergo Phizmiz Ergo Phizmiz Luis Carvajal
2014 List not complete: awaiting further additions Opera Composer Production company Conductor or Music Director Director Designer The Medium Gian Carlo Menotti OperaView Maite Aguirre Natalie Katsou Maria Kalamara Madame X Tim Benjamin Radius Anthony Brannick Lara Booth Werther Jules Massenet Philip Voldman Aylin Bozok
2012 Curated by Mehmet Ergen and produced by Leyla Nazli (21 August - 8 September) Opera Composer Production company Conductor or Music Director Director Designer Il tabarro Giacomo Puccini Philip Voldman Aylin Bozok The Sound of a Voice Philip Glass Volta Theatre Tom Kelly Andrea Ferran Hansel and Gretel Engelbert Humperdinck Opera at Home Jose Gandia Bastien und Bastienne Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart David Eaton Nina Brazier Susanna's Secret Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari David Eaton Nina Brazier Handel Furioso George Frideric Handel Max Hoehn The Emperor of Atlantis Viktor Ullmann Julian Black Max Hoehn La voix humaine Francis Poulenc Motion Productions Jean-Yves Cornet Ilan Reichel Tonseisha Kim B. Aston Saltpeter Gary Merry Unleashed Philip Venables Fourfortytwo and The Blackburn Company Nick Blackburn The Marriage of Figaro Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Heritage Opera Chris Gill Sarah Helsby Hughes Rigoletto Giuseppe Verdi Heritage Opera Sarah Helsby Hughes Thirteen Days - The Musical Alexander S. Bermange, arr. Paul Bateman Matthew Gould
2011 Opera Composer Production company Conductor or Music Director Director Designer Mansfield Park (World premiere tour) Jonathan Dove Heritage Opera Chris Gill Michael McCaffery Savitri Wandering Scholar The Little Opera Company Daisy Evans The Demon Lover The Emperor of Atlantis Viktor Ullmann John Murton Max Hoehn The Turn of the Screw Benjamin Britten The Diary of One Who Disappeared Leos Janáček The Opera Ensemble Selina Cadell Guy Burnett Alcina Peter Foggit Jenny Miller and Polly Graham The Boy, the Forest and the Desert Alexandre Barriere Flora Robertson Prima la Musica /Der Schauspieldirektor Ricardo Gosalbo Jose Gandhia The Francis Bacon Opera Stephen Crowe Genevieve Ellis
2010 Curated by Andrew Steggall and produced by Leyla Nazli (9 August – 21 September)Arcola Theatre 9 August – 21 September) 2010 www.arcolatheatre.com