The Canticles (2002)

 

Music: Benjamin Britten

 

This co-production with Streetwise Opera was a major community project, based around workshops in five London homeless shelters, and involving many homeless participants in the final performances at Westminster Abbey.

 

 

Assistant Directors: Una Murphy, Nicole Proia, Claire Parry-Jones, Nina Brazier, Jemma Gardner

 

 

Beyond moving… The arts have this magical power to bring us closer together through our own creativity and through our responses to that of others. This event proved it beyond a shadow of a doubt. I doubt whether the performers or anyone else present will ever forget this inspired and inspiring occasion. Opera ★★★★★

 

Every performer and director Š—– for there were many Š—– should be proud: a witty, brave, imaginative evening. Independent on Sunday ★★★★★

 

Truly awe-inspiring. Cynics detecting political correctness in overdrive would have felt satisfied if the results were makeshift and amateurish, but the opposite was true. Musically the performances were superb. The Times ★★★★★

 

I could sing a hundred praises of this superb stage premiere, yet still undersell it. This was peripatetic drama at its best: powerful, involving, sympathetic, touching, inspiring. The Independent ★★★★

 

Proof that it is worth investing in the arts because they can improve people’s lives, at ground level, where it’s needed. The Guardian ★★★★

 

 

 

 

Read the independent evaluation of The Canticles here.

 

Starring participants from:

The Dellow Centre

The Passage

Look Ahead, Victoria

The London Connection

Queen Mary Hostel

 

 

Director: Bill Bankes Jones

Producer: Matthew Peacock

Designer: Carrie Southall

Lighting Designer: Mark Doubleday

Music Director/Piano: Dominic Harlan

Tenor: Daniel Norman

Countertenor: Simon Baker

Countertenor (Voice of God): James Bowman

Tenor (Voice of God): Ian Partridge

Baritone:Tom Guthrie

Harp: Alice Trentham

French Horn: Evgeny Chebykin

Dancer: Tim Blowfield

Project Co-ordinator: JJ

Production Manager: Tom Albu

Stage Manager: Marius Ronning

Wardrobe: Lucy Khan

Production Assistant: Terry Doyle

Starring participants from:

The Dellow Centre

The Passage

Look Ahead, Victoria

The London Connection

Queen Mary Hostel

 

 

Director: Bill Bankes Jones

Producer: Matthew Peacock

Designer: Carrie Southall

Lighting Designer: Mark Doubleday

Music Director/Piano: Dominic Harlan

Tenor: Daniel Norman

Countertenor: Simon Baker

Countertenor (Voice of God): James Bowman

Tenor (Voice of God): Ian Partridge

Baritone:Tom Guthrie

Harp: Alice Trentham

French Horn: Evgeny Chebykin

Dancer: Tim Blowfield

Project Co-ordinator: JJ

Production Manager: Tom Albu

Stage Manager: Marius Ronning

Wardrobe: Lucy Khan

Production Assistant: Terry Doyle