Surrey’s Newest, Most Intimate Theatre Opens and a Dream Comes True

Published on: 7 Nov, 2019
Updated on: 7 Nov, 2019

Piccolo Theatre, Grange Park Opera

Three years ago, there were just trees. Now there are two theatres in the woods behind West Horsley Place, a 14th-century manor house.

The Theatre in the Woods, the five-tiered opera house in Surrey inspired by Milan’s iconic La Scala, was the realisation of a long-held dream by Wasfi Kani, the founder/CEO of Grange Park Opera.

The £10m cost of the building was raised by Kani from private donations in just one year.

Premier performance – Miss Havisham‘s Wedding Night

Tucked inside The Theatre in the Woods, Wasfi and her team have built a mini-theatre called the Piccolo. It nestles in the stage right wing with a small lighting rig, a good piano, decent-size performance area and seating for up to 75 people.

The Piccolo has been created for younger artists who have created a show, but are in need of a venue to perform it.

Wasfi Kani said: “By creating the Piccolo Theatre we are hoping to play our part in supporting young and emerging artists to develop, helping them to become the creatives of tomorrow. A bright Piccolo future beckons.”

Wasfi Kani

The premiere performance at the Piccolo Theatre was on October 19, a challenging repertoire performed by soprano Sarah Minns and pianist David Eaton.

They treated the audience to Aaron Copland’s Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson (first performed 1950) and Miss Havisham’s Wedding Night by the recently deceased Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer Dominick Argento.

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