The Owl and the Pussycat, Brentford Lock

From Owl and Pussycat

Finally, culture comes to Brentford.  This was the premier of a performance by artistes from the Royal Opera House of a specially commissioned opera, as yet another part of the 2012 Cultural Olympiad.  The librettist is Terry Jones (of Monty Python fame) with a score by Anne Dudley (of Art of Noise fame). The event was staged on a specially modified barge on the Grand Union Canal, right outside our apartment block, so no excuse for not seeing it then.  Except that all the tickets had sold out by the time I was in a position to make a booking.  No problem, the residents' garden at The Island fronts onto the canal so we watched it from there. That's why the performers often have their back to the camera.
The story broadly followed the version in Lear's poem, with an additional prequel explaining how Owl got to meet Pussycat in the first place.  Enjoyable performances from the principals and the supporting characters, particularly the 'ladies' from the cat protection league, although the music was nothing to go home humming about.  If you look closely at the audience in the background you can just make out the rather glum looking faces of Dudley and Jones (9th and 10th from right respectively), who were clearly not too impressed about some aspect of the performance.
Anyway, the performance has continued its tour around London on the Grand Union Canal, to largely positive reviews.  But a first for Brilliant Brentford!