How do you breathe new life into an artform that’s often seen as elite and out of reach? That was the challenge we faced in January 2024 when we set out to commission Shorts – four bold, 20-minute operas that would resist nostalgia and instead speak directly to the present and future. The goal wasn’t just to modernise opera’s content, but to grab the attention of those within the arts and culture scene, who felt that opera wasn’t meant for them.
Enter Josh Overton – Sunday Times Playwriting Award winner, and a man unafraid to confront both societal norms and his own assumptions. Known for pushing boundaries in theatre, Josh didn’t just take on the commission – he immersed himself in a world he’d previously written off. Workshops, research, mentoring, and collaboration followed. What emerged is not just a new opera, but a new advocate for the artform, who’s here to prove that opera speaks to everyone, not just the privileged few.
Before beginning my work with the Buxton International Festival I had a very clear (and sadly very common) view of what Opera in England meant. A vision of top hats and monocles, Lords and Ladies in tailcoats dropping thousands of pounds on a night out to have someone bellow complicated music at them in Italian. In other words, an artform not meant for me.
Here I was in my tracksuit and scraggly beard (‘homeless chic’ as my sister calls it) in the gorgeous town of Buxton to meet a group of people who not only like Opera but make it for a living. I expected them to be poshos, loons or a mix of the two. I was very wrong.
Carmel Smickersgill, the composer I was partnered with, turned out to be extremely down to earth, a brilliant thinker, brimming with ideas, calm in the face of my excited rambling, with a fantastic ear for the story-telling qualities of music and most unexpectedly: very cool. No monocles for her.
We generated our idea for Inevitable together, inspired by Carmel’s provocation around an often-misinterpreted artwork of a robot arm supposedly bleeding to death. I found the creative process really invigorating; collaborating so closely meant I could be certain she actually liked the idea (I shuddered at the thought of writing a libretto alone and palming it off on her sight unseen).
Our libretto is great and so is the music, I’m excited for it and I’m finally wrapping my brain around Opera. I have since seen a few operas both here and in the Czech Republic, the difference is interesting, not only of the content (Opera Diversa’s Manzelske Miniopery is much closer to a series of Monty Python skits than Don Giovanni), but of the audience, who treat going to the Opera like it’s the most normal thing in the world.
Since starting my Buxton International Festival journey, a lot has changed – we’ve written Opera number one (Inevitable), and am already excitedly working on ideas for a second piece. I’ve been invited as a librettist by renowned Czech theatre academic Pavel Drabek to work towards a book on the art of writing Opera libretto. I’ve seen incredible talent sing my words and Carmel’s music, it’s a strange, uplifting thing. If there’s an Opera bug, I’ve caught it now!
Watch Josh’s opera Inevitable at Buxton Opera House as part of Shorts, on 13, 15, 18, 21 and 25 July. Click hereto find out more.