britten. it was first performed here at glyndebourne in 1981, and there's a strong theme of nature in the production. this bewitching opera is a dark interpretation of shakespeare's comic play, in which four athenian lovers are lost in an enchanted forest ruled by malicious fairies. piano chords play # hail, mortal!# this is one of the trees that our tree actors will stand in. they have a black catsuit that's covered in vines, and they have these amazing tree boots, which are very heavy. very heavy. and they slide very slowly across the floor. singing the role of titania, queen of the fairies, is the american soprano ms redpath. it's her first time performing at glyndebourne. i'm a little bit nervous, but only out of respect for how great this place is. i feel lucky to have titania be my debut here. it's such a perfect role in terms of personality and diversity of kind of the character itself. one of the most loved roles in a midsummer night's dream is titania's love interest, the comic charac