photo by Andrew Lang

The idea of an all women group of ‘Divas’ was born during the Summer Music International Summer School for singers in 1998.  Suzanne Walker, Carol Bishop, Marjorie Bruce and Gillian Wormley each regularly performed as recitalists, but enjoyed the the fun and the challenge of performing ensembles.

The all female cast gave a special 'pre-Fringe' performance to a sell-out audience at The Ashcroft Arts Centre in Fareham, in July 2000. 

Brief synopsis: In a private room of the newly opened restaurant, 'The Cooked Goose’, the scene is set for the reunion of four college friends, Crystal (CB), Heather (SW), Maggie (MB) and Gwyneth (GW).

Librettist Marian Lines explained how she and Betty Roe made 'Lunch': "When the Divas approached us, the brief was for a through-sung piece of 30 to 50 minutes for the 2nd half of their opera programme. They wanted it to be light - more music theatre than opera - and to give each singer a range of music and character. Both of us having attended school and college reunions with trepidation ourselves, we thought that a 25 year reunion of four sopranos in a smart new restaurant might provide an arena for home-truths, overindulgence, showing off and a generally emotional bumpy ride marinaded in musical memories.  We came up with Lunch at the Cooked Goose".