20:30-21:35, Wednesday 1st October 2025
The Cockpit
Music & Words: Helen Epega
When one world burns and the sky forgets, whose stories survive and whose HERitage will be honoured? Of Earth and Quill is a visionary, radical one-woman opera by Helen Epega (The Venus Bushfires), creator of Song Queen: A Pidgin Opera. Set in a post-apocalyptic future still taking form, it explores survival, cultural memory, identity and belonging through a multisensory fusion of African percussion, operatic voice, ambient soundscapes and poetic multilingual storytelling.
Inspired by the echoes of Chinua Achebe and William Shakespeare, this powerful work unfolds in six striking visual and sonic movements. Projected landscapes and shifting costumes mirror identity emerging from the ashes of collapse, as memory takes shape and the creator longs not to forget.
Rooted in climate consciousness and Afrofuturism, the opera blends ancestral ritual with interactive moments, such as call-and-response, inviting the audience to listen, remember and reimagine. As a synesthete, Helen Epega experiences music as colour and shape, offering audiences an immersive, soul-stirring performance featuring African percussion, ethereal melodies, visual art, creative captioning and bold costumes.
Supported by Journey Through The Senses and developed in residency at the Society of Authors, Of Earth and Quill asks: How do we honour the past as we create the future?
Age range: All ages, but mostly adults
In a festival of new work, please note that shows may overrun.
Produced by The Venus Bushfires
Venue: The Cockpit, Gateforth Street, London NW8 8EH.
Previous Reviews
“This is opera, but not as you know it.” – The Guardian
“A new kind of opera.” – VICE
“Extraordinary.” – OkayAfrica
“Fantastic.” – BBC
“Incredible.” – LondonTheatre1
“The world’s first Pidgin English opera.” – Creative Boom ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“incredible…a musical performance that I’ve been left thinking of for days” – LondonTheatre1 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“Impressive and innovative… A production which redefines opera” – Afridiziak Theatre News
On the same day:
Written, Composed and Directed: Helen Epega Vocals and Handpan: Helen Epega African Percussion: Richard Olatunde Baker Piano and Arranger: Isabella Guilar Choreographer and Movement Artist: Francis Angol Movement artist: Esme Benjamin
Written, Composed and Directed: Helen Epega
Vocals and Handpan: Helen Epega
African Percussion: Richard Olatunde Baker
Piano and Arranger: Isabella Guilar
Choreographer and Movement Artist: Francis Angol
Movement artist: Esme Benjamin