Grange Park Opera

I visited this place today and was a little concerned that the road or should I say track leading to the house was well lets say leaved you a little shaken and stirred!!! You will need a good 44 to get over those large pot holes

A mini Glyndebourne in the south, Grange Park brings professional opera to a derelect Grade 1 listed building in the middle of Hampshire. Working in a similar manner to Glyndebourne, Grange park enables you to picnic outdoors before the opera and also in the long interval between acts. They offer a full dining service for those audience members who don’t do picnics with full silver service. The venue is superb, after bumping down an unmade private drive for approximately a mile, you park in a large rough field over looking the imposing Grange (the venue for the theatre). The theatre itself is built within the building, so that nothing changes the original features of the house, i.e. the seating is built away from the walls on a structure built just for the theatre purposes. They have cleverly made the floor covered with glass over toy trains and cars which are to represent the monies sponsored to them by large firms in order to display company names in a subtle manner. Performances vary in quality, some are on a par with London opera companies, but sometimes the lack of a full theatre means that the productions are a little over ambitious and fail. They also stage movie nights. Price wise the Grange is very pricey, you are paying for a night which is very much a night to be seen at, rather part of the summer social season and a great alternative to Glyndebourne.