20:00-20:45, Saturday 26th September 2026
Online
Music: Lasha Kharkhelauri
Words: Sandro Tsikoridze
Livestream followed by a panel discussion and a Q&A.
Enjoy five world-premiere short operas by Royal College of Music composers, brought to life by RCM singers and instrumentalists working with Tête à Tête. We’re delighted to bring our theatrical flair to the outstanding composers, singers and instrumentalists of RCM for our eighth biannual collaboration.
Ramona is a contemporary opera set inside a puppet theatre, where the story of two locomotive lovers unfolds alongside the life of the puppeteer who brings them to life. When the main puppeteer arrives late for the beginning of the performance, a hurried exchange with the theatre manager reveals that he plans to emigrate, making this his final show. The puppet play begins in Rioni, a small railway station in Georgia, where Ermon and Ramona say farewell before separating: Ermon travels to Siberia on a business mission, while Ramona joins a small travelling circus. Years later, during a circus performance, Ramona is asked to walk the tightrope. Seeing Ermon’s steam in the distance, she cries for the rope to be raised higher, loses her balance, and falls. Ermon rushes to her side, and in a final duet, they reunite and become a single pile of metal.
Lasha Kharkhelauri composer
Sandro Tsikoridze librettist
Ermon (puppet) Archie Inns
Ramona (puppet) Charlotte Jane Kennedy
Puppeteer Henry Godwin
Theatre Manager Alex Hardy
Circus Clown Yiran Shi
Injured Ballerina (silent) Emma McClean