Tête à Tête: The Opera Festival 2023

29

August

Songs of Hope

Throughout the Festival. An audio walk responding to Dickinson's 'Hope is the thing with Feathers' through a song cycle about hope.

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29

August

ARTHUR

19:30-20:00. The legend of King Arthur in half an hour: his final hours as he looks back on his life and wonders why it had to be him.

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29

August

Queer Connections

21:00-21:45. A panel discussion between some of the LGBTQI+ artists in this year's festival, introducing their shows and what links them.

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30

August

The Golden Thread

19:00-19:30. A woman's encounter with the Green Man and the Erlking, based on Angela Carter's retelling of the Goethe myth.

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30

August

The Metamorphosis

20:20-21:30. A faithful adaptation of Kafka's novel about a man transformed into an insect, to the horror of his family.

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31

August

The hedge the world and everything

19:00-19:30. A Cornish folk opera, singing a hedge into being. Accompanied by a film, its sentient beauty contrasts with the mechanised world.

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31

August

The Last Siren

20:30-21:05. Two sirens with beautiful voices compete to lure in sailors - but when one of them finds love, things start to get serious.

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01

September

Judith

19:30-21:00. A ritualistic adaptation of Bartok's Bluebeard's Castle, offering healing after the pandemic.

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02

September

PLASTIC BODIES

19:00-19:35. How does an industry so obsessed with the voice leave its performers without one? A darkly funny and brutally familiar look at how the opera industry treats female bodies onstage.

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02

September

Fierce Love

20:30-21:05. A poignant love story amid the vibrant nightlife, determined AIDS activism, and enduring queer love of 1990s London.

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03

September

Bermondsey, 1983

19:00-19:45. A verbatim opera based on the homophobic by-election campaign against Peter Tatchell, led by the closeted Simon Hughes.

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03

September

1944: Home Fires

20:35-21:20. Based on a (probably) true story: gay matinee idol and composer Ivor Novello is forced to share a cell with a gangland thug.

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05

September

Songs of Descent

19:30-20:15. A surreal gothic queer retelling of the Persephone myth, going into the Underworld as an act of transformation.

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06

September

Cupboard Love

19:00-19:40. The first ever London staging of Dring's only opera, a jazz & cabaret inspired comedy whodunnit about an affair and a corpse.

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06

September

The Trans Lady Sings!

20:30-21:30. Outsider in gender and opera Alice d'Lumiere presents a mix of performance poetry, comedy, and maybe even some actual singing!

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07

September

Looking Inward

19:00-19:45. Two stories about different ways of looking inward, from an obsessive watcher to a lecture on Pompeii.

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07

September

Song Queen: A Pidgin Opera Reimagined

20:40-21:20. The world's first pidgin opera. The Menemeh tribe maintain harmony through song, but the jealous Vrugos seek to destroy them.

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08

September

The Gaia Hypothesis

19:30-20:30. What does a fish think about humanity's future? A singer wanders to and find connection with the world around us.

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09

September

The Monster of Gao Village

19:30-20:30. An adaptation of Journey To The West, blending Western and Chinese forms to tell the tale of two heroes meeting a monster.

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10

September

On Being Vocal

14:00-14:40. An emboldening women’s support group where 6 characters bravely vocalise what they’ve learnt to hide.

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10

September

Fragments from a Lost Land

20:00-20:40. The mythical lost land of Atlantis meets the lost lands Dogger Bank, addressing the survival of our world.

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13

September

Displaced: A Woolwich Arsenal Opera

19:00-20:00. A tale of football fans, suffragettes, and a community facing a ruthless businessman trying to move their club.

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14

September

Fierce Love: The Watch Party

19:00-20:00. A poignant love story amid the vibrant nightlife, determined AIDS activism, and enduring queer love of 1990s London.

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14

September

The Trans Lady Sings!: The Watch Party

20:30-21:30. Outsider in gender and opera Alice d'Lumiere presents performance poetry, comedy, and maybe even some actual singing!

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15

September

Songs of Descent: The Watch Party

19:00-20:10. A surreal gothic queer retelling of the Persephone myth, going into the Underworld as an act of transformation.

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15

September

1944: Home Fires: The Watch Party

20:30-21:15. Based on a (probably) true story: gay matinee idol and composer Ivor Novello is forced to share a cell with a gangland thug.

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16

September

The Monster of Gao Village: The Watch Party

12:30-14:00. Watch party. Based on Journey To The West, blending Western and Chinese forms to tell the tale of two heroes meeting a monster.

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16

September

Bermondsey, 1983: The Watch Party

14:30-15:35. A verbatim opera about the homophobic election campaign against Peter Tatchell, led by the closeted Simon Hughes.

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16

September

Songs of Hope: The Watch Party

16:30-18:00. An audio walk responding to Dickinson's 'Hope is a thing with Feathers' through a song cycle about hope, guided by the composer.

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16

September

Song Queen: A Pidgin Opera Reimagined: The Watch...

19:00-20:15. The world's first pidgin opera. The Menemeh tribe maintain harmony through song, but the jealous Vrugos seek to destroy them.

More Info