Owen Davies was brought up in London but has Welsh roots. He was raised on chapel hymns, Handel oratorios and Mozart arias. He began going to the theatre in the 1960s and, as a teenager, used to stand at the back of the Old Vic stalls to watch Olivier's National Theatre productions. He also saw many RSC productions at the Aldwych in the 1960s. At this time he also began to see operas at Covent Garden and developed a love for Mozart, Verdi, and Richard Strauss. After a career as a social worker and a trade union officer, Owen has retired from paid employment but as a 'mature student' he has recently gained a certificate in Opera Studies from Rose Bruford College.
Handel wrote a lot of operas and some are better than others. Agrippina was written for the Venice Carnival of 1710 and the textbooks tell us that it ...
This is a piece of theatre that defies easy categorisation. It is a mixture of spoken word, drama, mime, dance, and music. Just when the audience is f...
Mozart's Magic Flute is one of those operas that brings out extreme views amongst opera lovers. For some it's a trivial bit of pantomime redeemed by s...
Despite all the noise and nonsense seeping out of the Arts Council about opera funding, it is great to be able to celebrate the fact that English Tour...
This stunning short piece by Tim Crouch is reflection on the nature of theatre and the shared values that bring performers and audience together. It's...
This play is the result of a trip to Afghanistan made in 2002 by the writer and his friend, Sam Maynard, a feature photographer. It tells the story of...
This version of The Rape of Lucretia, co-produced by The Royal Opera and Britten Pears Arts provides a compelling evening at the Linbury Theatre. The ...
This extraordinary opera by Janacek remains an enigma to me. Its bizarre mix of two stories – one about a sad group of humans, the other about a rioto...
Battersea Arts Centre is a venue that can be trusted to put on shows that challenge, excite and entertain. This show – devised by Australian group, Ba...
WNO Youth Opera has been tasked with bringing this strange operetta by Shostakovich to life. First performed in 1959 near the end of a career that had...
