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Handel's Messiah Dramatic Staging by Merry Opera 18th Revival Season

Part of the Merry Opera Company - Handel's Dramatised Messiah 2025 Season

Add to my Calendar 14-11-2025 19:30 14-11-2025 21:30 36 Handel's Messiah Dramatic Staging by Merry Opera 18th Revival Season From the moment you enter the church before the performance begins, you realise this is no ordinary production. There is no special seating for a large choir, no sign of any orchestra seats or music stands, no stage lighting, in fact nothing at all to show that any concert is about to take place. The church is as you would see it on any normal day. But on your way in to take your seat, you might notice people hovering by the entrance or wandering around the church:  a lady cleaning the altar and choir pews, a hoody, hunched with hands in pockets, looking at the East window. These are people from everyday life; people you may know.  But they do not know each other, and they have their own reasons for being there: each is in search of something — consolation, affirmation, forgiveness, direction.… Some of them carry the concept of a Messiah in their hearts, some are not religious at all. As they sing through this traditional and monumental work, they engage with each other and themselves, ultimately experiencing the transformation from need and despair to understanding, hope and community. St Mary’s Church, Horsham DD/MM/YYYY

Details

St Mary’s Church
Causeway
Horsham
WestSussex
RH12 1HE
England

Programme

George Frideric Handel – Messiah, HWV 56

Performers

Merry Opera Company

Programme Note

From the moment you enter the church before the performance begins, you realise this is no ordinary production. There is no special seating for a large choir, no sign of any orchestra seats or music stands, no stage lighting, in fact nothing at all to show that any concert is about to take place. The church is as you would see it on any normal day.

But on your way in to take your seat, you might notice people hovering by the entrance or wandering around the church:  a lady cleaning the altar and choir pews, a hoody, hunched with hands in pockets, looking at the East window. These are people from everyday life; people you may know. 

But they do not know each other, and they have their own reasons for being there: each is in search of something — consolation, affirmation, forgiveness, direction.… Some of them carry the concept of a Messiah in their hearts, some are not religious at all. As they sing through this traditional and monumental work, they engage with each other and themselves, ultimately experiencing the transformation from need and despair to understanding, hope and community.

Merry Opera's dramatised Messiah

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