TWO Oxfordshire greyhounds are ready to receive a massive round of a-paws from opera goers when they take to the stage next week.

Wilma and Harry will be hoping to steal the limelight from the professionals when they appear in Ellen Kent’s Rigoletto at the New Theatre Oxford on February 22. The pair will then be on hand to meet their adoring public when they help with a charity collection in aid of The Greyhound Trust after the performance.

The doggy duo will be accompanied by Wilma’s owner Cristina Smith, who will be taking the role of the duke’s dog handler.

“It’s really exciting, I think Wilma and Harry are really going to enjoy it,” said Cristina.

“Harry took part in the production a couple of years ago when it was last in Oxford so he knows what he is doing, and I think it will be nice for Wilma to have a friend on stage.

“It’s also really important that they will be there representing The Greyhound Trust and raising awareness for the charity, as well as showing what wonderful dogs greyhounds are, and how gentle and loving they are. They make wonderful pets.”

Ellen Kent’s productions have a reputation for lavishness, spectacle and grandeur and this will be no different, as Wilma and Harry will not be the only animals on stage, they will joined by a magnificent golden eagle.

Ellen has long been a campaigner for animal welfare, like her mother who ran an animal sanctuary in Spain for many years, and after talking to a representative from a local greyhound charity outside her local supermarket and hearing how the dogs can be abandoned once their running days are done, she became determined to try and help raise awareness of their plight.

The Oxford Greyhound Trust is a registered charity, who rescues, rehabilitates and rehomes greyhounds, and currently have six greyhound dogs who are ready to call a new place home. They will be doing a collection at the end of the performance of Rigoletto to raise funds and offer more greyhounds a chance.

This production of Rigoletto will be sung in Italian with English surtitles and contains some scenes of nudity.

Tickets can be purchased from the New Theatre box office on George Street, by ringing 0844 871 3020 or by visiting our website at www.atgtickets.com/oxford (phone and internet bookings subject to booking/transaction fee. Calls are charged at 7p per minute, plus your phone company's access charge).

For bookings of 10 or more, or for Equal Access bookings, please call our dedicated in-house team on 0844 871 3040.