Kilkenny Arts Festival show scoops Irish Times Theatre Award

One of the highlights of last summer's Kilkenny Arts Festival has scooped an Irish Times Theatre Award!

Semele, Opera Collective Ireland and Kilkenny Arts Festival with Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin in partnership with Sestina was revealed as winner of the Best Opera award at Sunday evening's ceremony.

Handel’s masterpiece Semele for was staged for three special performances at the Watergate Theatre, in Kilkenny City, as part of KAF 2022.

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A tale of adultery and revenge amongst the gods, its lyrical arias and dramatic choruses, coupled with a unique mixture of tragedy and comedy make it one of the richest and most compelling of all Handel operas.

Based on one of the more salacious passages of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, and with the libretto by the Restoration playwright William Congreve, its risqué storyline is one of the reasons why ‘Handel’s sexiest opera’ was suppressed after only a handful of performances.

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The production reunited some of the creative team behind the critically acclaimed production of Monteverdi’s The Return of Ulysses (Kilkenny Arts Festival 2018), including Tony award-winning director Patrick Mason, leading baroque conductor Christian Curnyn, and world-renowned baroque ensemble Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin. They were joined by an exciting cast of young singers (Kelli-Ann Masterson, Jade Phoenix, Andrew Gavin, Dominica Williams, Gerben Van der Werf, Edward Hawkins and Fionn Ó hAlmhain) and the dynamic choral ensemble, Sestina.