American composer Gabriela Lena Frank makes her Met debut with her first opera, a magical-realist portrait of Mexico’s painterly power couple Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, with libretto by Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright Nilo Cruz. Fashioned as a reversal of the Orpheus and Euridice myth, the story depicts Frida, sung by leading mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard, leaving the underworld on the Day of the Dead and reuniting with Diego, portrayed by baritone Carlos Álvarez. The famously feuding pair briefly relive their tumultuous love, embracing both the passion and the pain before bidding the land of the living a final farewell. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts the Met premiere of Frank’s opera, a “confident, richly imagined score” (The New Yorker) that “bursts with color and fresh individuality” (Los Angeles Times). The vibrant new production, taking enthusiastic inspiration from Frida and Diego’s paintings, is directed and choreographed by Deborah Colker, following her remarkable 2024 debut staging of Ainadamar.

Pegeen Flaherty’s life is turned upside down when, on a normal day, a young man walks into her pub claiming that he’s killed his father.

Instead of being shunned, the killer Christy Mahon becomes a local hero. The welcome murderer wins hearts and races as he beds himself into village life. That is until a second man unexpectedly arrives on the scene…

Caitríona McLaughlin (Artistic Director of the Abbey Theatre, Dublin) directs Nicola Coughlan (Bridgerton), Éanna Hardwicke (The Sixth Commandment) and Siobhán McSweeney (Derry Girls) in John Millington Synge’s riveting story of youth and self-discovery.

Saturday Coffee Mornings every month in Pembridge Parish Hall

Join us for coffee/tea, home made cakes, meet the neighbours for friendship and a chat

Sponsored this month by Pembridge Friendship Group

Filmed at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Tate Britain, London, the exhibition reveals Sargent's power to express distinctive personalities, power dynamics and gender identities during this fascinating period of cultural reinvention. Alongside 50 paintings by Sargent sit stunning items of clothing and accessories worn by his subjects, drawing the audience into the artist's studio.

After the sudden death of her father, a woman turns to the ancient art of falconry, training a wild goshawk named Mabel to navigate her profound loss.

Pushkin presents a vast overview of old Russian society around 1820, which Tchaikovsky’s original score neatly divides into each of its three acts: from the timeless rituals of country life to the rural gentry with its troubles and pleasures and, finally, the glittering imperial aristocracy of St. Petersburg. The Met’s production places the action in the later 19th century, around the time of the opera’s premiere.

Just as we entered the month with a bang, we leave it with one. Join us at the Hall on Friday, 30th April, as the Searles Brothers — two brothers from Pembridge who decided that ordinary life simply wasn't enough — tell us about their extraordinary Dakar Rally adventure. With historically fewer than half of all riders making it to the finish line, their story of brotherhood, grit and survival is one you won't want to miss.

We slow the pace down a little with Chloé Zhao's quietly devastating film The Rider. Brady Blackburn (played by the remarkable Brady Jandreau, essentially playing himself) awakens from a severe head injury after a horse crushed his skull, and must face a future without the rodeo that defines him — all while holding his family together. It is a heart-wrenching, luminously beautiful piece of filmmaking. I'd suggest bringing tissues. Perhaps two.

Discover the fascinating story of Pembridge — from its earliest inhabitants to the village we know and love today. Join us for an evening that brings centuries of local history vividly to life. Whether your roots are here or you're simply curious about this remarkable corner of Herefordshire, this is an evening not to be missed.

After all that moral anguish, something rather more enchanting. We return to the Royal Opera House for Mozart's fantastical The Magic Flute, glittering in David McVicar's much-loved production. A stellar cast — Julia Bullock as Pamina, Amitai Pati as Tamino, Huw Montague Rendall as Papageno, Kathryn Lewek as the Queen of the Night and Solomon Howard as Sarastro — led by French conductor Marie Jacquot, making her Covent Garden debut. Pure joy.

We then welcome National Theatre Live's new production of Arthur Miller's classic All My Sons. If you've ever watched Bryan Cranston dismantle a man from the inside out — think Breaking Bad's Walter White — then imagine him turning that extraordinary gift on Joe Keller, Miller's deeply flawed patriarch, crumbling beneath the weight of his own moral compromises. Under the visionary direction of Ivo van Hove, this is no dusty revival. It is a visceral, urgent production that tears into the rot beneath the American dream with surgical precision. Five stars don't begin to cover it.

April begins with a bang. The Royal Opera House broadcasts Wagner's Siegfried — the third chapter of his epic Ring Cycle —, and if last night's Tristan is anything to go by, you may need to lie down afterwards. Few operatic experiences match the sheer scale and wonder of Siegfried, and with a cast of this calibre, it promises to be an epic in its own right, not merely a footnote to the Met's magnificent Tristan.

After years of anticipation, a truly unmissable event arrives as the electrifying Lise Davidsen tackles one of the ultimate roles for dramatic soprano: the Irish princess Isolde in Wagner’s transcendent meditation on love and death. Heroic tenor Michael Spyres stars opposite Davidsen as the love-drunk Tristan. The momentous occasion also marks the advent of a new, Met-debut staging by Yuval Sharon—hailed by The New York Times as “the most visionary opera director of his generation” and the first American to direct an opera at the famed Wagner festival in Bayreuth—as well as Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s first time leading Tristan und Isolde at the Met. Mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Gubanova reprises her signature portrayal of Brangäne, alongside bass-baritone Tomasz Konieczny, who sings Kurwenal after celebrated Met appearances in Wagner’s Der Fliegende Holländer and Ring cycle. Bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green makes an important role debut as King Marke.

The peasant girl Giselle discovers the true, high-born identity of her lover Albrecht – and that he is promised to another. In despair at the revelation of Albrecht’s infidelity, Giselle kills herself. Her soul enters the ranks of the Wilis – shades of young women who died before their wedding day. All men that come across their path are compelled to dance themselves to death, and Albrecht falls into their trap. Through Giselle’s love from beyond the grave her intercession saves him and also releases her soul from the Wilis’ power.

Still Life is a 2013 drama film written and directed by Uberto Pasolini. The film was presented at the 70th Venice Film Festival, where it won the award for Best Director in the category "Orizzonti". At the Reykjavik International Film Festival, Still Life received the top award (Golden Puffin) as well as the FIPRESCI Award. It also received the Black Pearl award (the highest award) at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival for "its humanity, empathy and grace in treating grief, solitude and death"; for his performance, Eddie Marsan won the Best British Actor award at the 2014 Edinburgh International Film Festival.

National Theatre Live: The Audience is a filmed stage production starring Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II, depicting her private weekly meetings with 12 Prime Ministers, offering insights into her reign and the woman behind the crown. This acclaimed play by Peter Morgan (creator of The Crown) shows intimate, pivotal moments from Churchill to Cameron, balancing wit with pathos, and is returning to the big screen for a limited time, available through NT Live partners.