Tête à Tête
These free events ran throughout the 2012 Tête à Tête Opera Festival.
Nine Stories High – WNO
Installation – Throughout the Festival
Credits:
Episodes 1 – 3
Writer Alan Harris
Composer Stacey Blythe
Director Ian Mackenzie Thurley
Episodes 4 – 6
Writer Ben Gwalchmai
Composer Elfyn Jones
Director Joanna Turner
Episodes 7 – 9
Writer Mark Williams
Composer Helen Woods
Director Angharad Lee
Nine Stories High was a live Soap Opera which took place in Wrexham, North Wales inspired by stories told by Wrexham people. Following the tangled love lives and feuds of landlord Terry, his wife Sandra and a host of local characters, it was performed by professional opera singers, including members of WNO’s Chorus, in the town’s pubs, shops and market. Watch and find out what happens to Terry – will he reunite with his true love?
www.wno.org.uk/nine-stories-high
www.facebook.com/streetsongs
Hoo-ray and up she Rises – Opera North
Installation – Throughout the Festival
Devised: Martin Smith
Based on the traditional sea-shanty Drunken Sailor Commissioned by Leeds Canvas, a consortium of eight Leeds-based organisations for Artists taking the Lead, including Opera North. Transporting the high seas up the Thames to Hammersmith, Martin Smith’s viewing box is a tiny sea shanty in motion, based on perhaps the most famous sea-faring song of all time. Guaranteed to turn all land-lubbers into salty sea-dogs.
Twitching – DrawnForth Opera
2 & 19 August 18.30 – 18.45
Music & Words: Catherine Kontz
Singer: Ellan Parry
Twitching is an opera happening that examines the loss of privacy in our society. Ellan Parry features as a soloist amongst the wandering ornithologists who will do their best to draw you into their wondrous world of binoculars and birdsong.
Foyer version
Terrace version
Salty Sarah
16, 17 & 18 August 18.40 – 18.50
Freathy Tippett Salty Sarah
Music: Dimitri Scarlato
Words: Alexia Anastasiadis
Director: Julie Osman
Producer: Roisin Stimpson
Designer: Lucy Matthews
What happens when a female librettist and male composer who see things very differently are thrown together? Salty Sarah explores the unspoken tensions of male-female relationships against the backdrop of an intrusive fishing village. Photo: Attributed to Deutsche Fotothek-
Future opera
4 August
Five to Midnight 18.30 – 18.45,
Sam’s quiet thoughts are interrupted when she meets a mystical character who guides her through a difficult decision as dancers embody her torment.
Four to Midnight 20.55 – 21.10
‘Offender’, ‘Asbo’, ‘Petty criminal’… such easy words to say. Some words are harder… ‘Afraid’, ‘Confused’, ‘Angry’. Dancers reenact a dramatic scene as Luke remembers his past.
(NB Three to Midnight (Ticketed performance) 21.10 – 21.50)
5 August
Five to Midnight 15.30 – 15.45
Four to Midnight 17.55 – 18.10
(NB Three to Midnight (Ticketed performance) 18.10 – 18.50)
Music: Alexander Campkin
Words: Ben Kaye
Director: Imogen Tedbury
Choreographer: Jamie Thompson
Ampersandance Dance company
In an extraordinary tale merging reality with new myth, a chance meeting between three strangers sparks a touching exploration of love, time and mortality. A thrilling fusion of opera and dance, the mystic Three to Midnight will challenge your perception of fate as the clock ticks ever closer to eternity.