Opera's dead parrot sketch: Offenbach's Vert-Vert delights at Garsington

Simple solutions prove the best in Beethoven's "problem" opera as John Cox's staging is revived at Garsington.

Ruth Knight untangles Handel's Rodelinda, directing a new staging at Garsington which features a feast of fine singing. 

Jack Furness directs a terrific new Queen of Spades at Garsington – haunting and harrowing. 

Simon Higlett’s exquisite sets and costumes give a backdrop to Donizetti’s frothiest of rom-coms.

Christopher Alden, Chris Hopkins and an excellent cast send us a comic roller coaster ride with Verdi’s ultra-rarely performed second opera.

In the first and last acts, ladies entered with a train still attached to a bolt of cloth, which was then cut to length by an attendant. Was this production brought to the stage in a great hurry, allowing no time for costume fittings?