Finally someone has decided to immortalise the fabulous Mr Benn in operatic form. The popular childrens’ cartoon from the 1970s usually provokes sighs of nostalgia from the over 35s and bafflement from anyone younger, despite having been repeated almost constantly ever since. Andy Morton has written the libretto, set by Stephen McNeff, and I will be in Cardiff later this month to workshop the first sections at WNO. The inspiration for these first scenes is Mr Benn – the Red Knight (click here to watch the original) I play the Dragon and my fellow cast members are: Darren Abrahams (the Shopkeeper); Laura Pooley (the Princess); Paul Carey Jones (the Matchmaker); Thorbjørn Gulbransøy (Mr Benn) and Jonathan Gunthorpe (the King). Eugene Monteith conducts and Rhian Hutchings directs.