Grimeborn 2026: Così fan tutte?!

First performed at Vienna’s Burgtheater in 1790, Barefoot Opera’s production of Mozart & Da Ponte’s Così fan tutte?! at the Arcola Theatre (running as part of the 2026 Grimeborn Festival) is an altogether more stripped back version than 18th century opera-goers would have been greeted with. Gone is the woodwind, brass, percussion and most of the string section – instead the only instruments required are a double bass and keyboard. The production is directed by Jenny Miller. “Così fan tutte” translates to “so do they all” – and as ‘tutte’ is in the feminine form, it refers to women. The events of this production have been moved to the present day, and so Don Alfonso’s doubt over female fidelity is set up as a scientific experiment, a hypothesis to be proved or disproved. Ferrando and Guglielmo are enamoured of two sisters (Dorabella and Fiordiligi), but reluctantly go along with Don Alfonso’s plan; they pretend to be enlisted and leave for war, their fiancées heartbroken but resolute.…