17:00-17:45, Saturday 26th September 2026
Online
Music & Words: Deniz Dortok
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.
A mischievous boy, untouched by fear, leaves his hometown to seek it out. Along the way he meets bandits, a ghoul and a weary caregiver, and hears tales of a giant fish said to carry the earth on its back, its movements shaking the ground. Each encounter reveals a new kind of fear: comic, moral, drawing him toward a final awakening. When the fish stirs and an earthquake strikes his village, the boy learns that true fear lies not in danger itself, but in the weight of care and responsibility that follows.
Deniz Dortok composer/librettist
Meddah 1 Emma McClean
Meddah 2 Rachel Howe
The Boy Bella Marslen
The Mother Katy Reilly
The Tailor/Gulyabani (The Ghoul)
Tom Law The Mayor/Chief
Bandit Alex Hardy
Farmer/Villager Tim Burton
Fisher David Fraser
Doctor Olivia Forbes
Village Elder/Caregiver/Trapped Villager Ustinya Malinina
Chorus Olivia Forbes, Ustinya Malinina, Tim Burton, David Fraser