Four new stories of our time
Four new creative partnerships
Four brand new, 20 minute operas
A Buxton International Festival Production
Shorts will challenge everything that you thought you knew about opera. This is the future.
Award-winning composers and writers from different genres and cultures come together to use the power of opera to tell stories and take you to the extremes of human emotion. This world premiere, commissioned for the Buxton International Festival, has rewritten the rules of contemporary opera.
The four stories explore the uncertainty, fragility and precariousness of the world and tell emotive stories about the ways that we seek a sense of belonging, of healing, of being seen and heard. From the 1920s scandal that rocked the queer community, to ancient African healing rituals. Twenty years of domestic drama and the impending end of the world. These operas are written to make your pulse race and to spark conversations for a new generation of cultural pioneers. Sung in English, Zulu, Ndebele, Polari, and an invented language.
If you see nothing else this year, make sure you see this.
About the Operas
It’s a countdown to the end of the world. But that’s someone else’s problem…Would you spend the rest of your life turning the crank, or are you only delaying the Inevitable?
In a stark factory of survival, people from three different generations respond to this existential crisis. With some gallows humour and raw emotion, the clock is ticking.
Composed by Carmel Smickersgill (Nominee Ivor Novello Award 2020, Winner Rushworth Composition prize), with libretto by Josh Overton (Sunday Times Playwright Award Winner).
Cast: Christopher Cull, Beca Davies, Julia Mariko
20 years in 20 minutes. In a time of war, two refugees, a couple meet, fall in love, and marry. But life is long and people change, will their bond prove strong enough?
With folk influences and a strong, physical theatre energy this is a story of change and growing apart. Martin Green’s ‘invented’ language taps in to a universal form of communication, allowing the music and the emotion to take you away.
Composer and librettist Martin Green (winner Ivor Novello Award 2021, winner BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards).
Cast: Tsen Day-Beaver, Alexandra Meier, Themba Mvula
Performed in English and an ‘invented’ language.
1927, a private party in Fitzroy Square. Sensational dancer Bobby Britt hosts an exuberant party for his bohemian group of guests. A party in full swing. Britt treats his guests to a performance of Salome’s Dance of the Seven Veils, behind closed doors. But the entertainment crashes down when the police raid. A true story brought to life.
Join us for this celebration of LGBTQ+ history and the pioneering individuals that would otherwise be forgotten.
Composed by Jasper Dommett (Ivor Novello Nominee 2020), with libretto by Jessica Walker (Oper Leipzig, Wigmore Hall, Opera North, Royal Exchange Theatre).
Cast:
Egor Sergeev Bobby
Christopher Cull Robert
Francis Gush Harold
Rebecca Anderson Constance
Performed in English and Polari (a hidden language used primarily by gay men in Britain).
An ancestral ritual of healing and release. Nomvula feels displaced and invisible in her life. She goes to a Traditional Healer to cure her unsettled spirit.
In a modern world can we still find deep connections to our spiritual heritage? This rare opportunity to see an opera rooted in African tradition is one not to be missed.
Composed by Thanda Gumede (whose appearances include Opera North and the BBC Proms), with libretto by Zodwa Nyoni (writer for BBC, Channel 4, Netflix).
Cast:
Roberta Philip Nomvula
Danielle Mahailet Sangoma
Themba Mvula The Initiate
Sung in English, Ndebele and Zulu.
Go behind the scenes with the Creative Team in this short film, captured during their residency at Opera North.
CREATIVE TEAM:
Marcus Desando and Rebecca Meltzer Directors
Elliott Squire Designer
Alex Musgrave Lighting and Video Designer
Berrak Dyer and Paul McKenzie Music Directors
Alex Chisholm, Emma Jenkins and Sasha Milavic Davies Dramaturgs
CHORUS: Hannah Andrusier, Kitty Casey, Alex Gibb, Jemima Gray, Kristen Gregory, Daisy Mitchell, Aidan McCusker, Alex Riddell
Please be aware: this performance includes strong language, haze, and some flashing lights. If you have photosensitive epilepsy, or if you have any concerns, please speak to a member of our staff.
FREESHEET
Click here to download the Digital Freesheet
