Opera Prelude: Trouble in Tahiti and The Seven Deadly Sins

Opera Prelude presents a compelling double bill of 20th-century opera at Opera Holland Park, bringing together Leonard Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti and Kurt Weill’s The Seven Deadly Sins for one summer evening in Kensington.

Although different in style and setting, both works look beyond polished appearances to examine ambition, dissatisfaction and the compromises people make in pursuit of an ideal life.

Premiered in 1952, Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti follows Sam and Dinah, a seemingly successful suburban couple whose comfortable surroundings conceal a strained and emotionally distant marriage.

Set over the course of a single day, the opera contrasts bright, radio-style choruses with the couple’s private frustrations. Jack Holton performs the role of Sam, a successful but detached businessman, opposite Alexandria Moon as Dinah, his wife, who increasingly questions the life they have created together.

Dinah’s celebrated aria, What a Movie!, offers one of the opera’s most memorable moments, combining Bernstein’s theatrical wit with an underlying sense of loneliness.

The second work, Kurt Weill’s The Seven Deadly Sins, follows Anna as she travels across America in the hope of earning enough money to build a home for her family in Louisiana.

Originally premiered at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris in 1933, the work combines soaring melodies, dance rhythms and jazz influences. Each stage of Anna’s journey introduces a different city and a new moral challenge, corresponding to one of the seven deadly sins: sloth, pride, wrath, gluttony, lust, avarice and envy.

Stephanie Wake Edwards stars as Anna, accompanied by dancer Yanki Yau as Anna II. The work will be performed in German with surtitles, allowing audiences to follow the story throughout the performance.

The double bill is conducted by Lewis Gaston and directed by Valeria Perboni, with choreography by Monica Nicolaides. Together, the creative team brings two sharply observed works into the distinctive open-sided setting of Opera Holland Park Theatre.

Opera Prelude is a charity dedicated to supporting emerging opera singers through performance opportunities, professional development, career guidance and wellbeing support. Its concerts and recitals are intended to make live opera more accessible while providing young artists with practical experience at significant venues.

Located within the grounds of Holland Park, Opera Holland Park is an important part of the cultural landscape of Kensington and Chelsea. Its summer theatre offers audiences the opportunity to experience opera close to home, surrounded by gardens, woodland and the historic remains of Holland House.

Opera Prelude: Trouble in Tahiti and The Seven Deadly Sins takes place on Thursday 20 August 2026 at 7.30pm.

Ticket prices are listed from £42 to £125, subject to availability at the time of booking. Visitors should consult the official Opera Holland Park website for the latest ticket information and any updates before attending.

For residents and visitors looking for cultural events in Kensington and Chelsea, this double bill offers an engaging introduction to two influential works of modern opera in one of West London’s most distinctive performance spaces.

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