Windsor castle - steeped in intrigue and affairs!
A king rejects his wife
A lady in waiting… to be queen

English Touring Opera follows its triumphant spring 2005 South Bank Award nominated production of Donizetti’s Mary, Queen of Scots (hailed by The Guardian as “***** Exceptional”) with a new production of the composer’s first triumph, the story of another British queen who lost her head  - Anna Bolena (Anne Boleyn).

 At the heart of Anna Bolena is the cruelty of the Tudor King Henry VIII – having divorced his Catholic wife Catharine of Aragon, and set on the throne his great love Anne Boleyn, he is disappointed; now he desires her lady in waiting, Jane Seymour. As her thousand days as queen draw to a close, Anne is still fighting – until she meets again the man she loved before Henry.

Donizetti’s bel-canto thriller has it all - beautiful arias, powerful orchestration, stirring choruses and one of the best mad scenes in all opera.   ETO will present this production in English with a full orchestra and period costumes.

 Julie Unwin (ETO’s acclaimed Tosca) and emerging star Julia Riley portray the friends and rivals, Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour, with Brazilian tenor Luciano Botelho as Anne’s lover Percy, in this production by ETO General Director James Conway.