The Dragon of Wantley

John Frederick Lampe, Handel’s orchestra basoonist, penned this opera in 1737 to lampon Italian castrato Farinelli. His comic masterpiece held the stage at London’s Covent Garden for nearly five decades. The Dragon of Wantley now returns with grand marionette proscenium flanked on either side by musicians and singers. Mr. Punch in the role of Gubbins and his lovely daughter Margery beseech Mighty Moore of Moore Hall to rescue them from the beast. Our brave knight vows to work him and jerk him from nostril to tail and soon forgets his finacee, murderous Mauxalinda. The zany cast of wooden cohorts spring to life in the nimble hands of Carter Family Marionettes.