Flotsam
A new opera for young children
Half Moon presents an OperaUpClose production…
David Wiesner’s magical picture book adapted and brought to life in words and music by award-winning composer and writer Kerry Andrew.
Pip likes to play alone. In their bedroom, they explore a collection of treasures from the beach—flotsam! What are these objects and creatures? Who are they? What stories might they tell? With the help of an old camera, Pip’s imagination takes hold, conjuring extraordinary underwater worlds—strange, beautiful, and entirely their own.
Guided by the idea of photographing the world, curiosity and wonder leads Pip to discover a world beyond their own, connecting with other children across time and place, and finding the courage to reach out and make friends.
Running Time
Approximately 30 minutes
Accessibility
Please get in touch for more information about accessibility in all our touring venues.
Makaton is integrated throughout Flotsam.
Creative Team
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Kerry Andrew is a West Yorkshire-based composer, author and performer/producer. The winner of four British Composer Awards, they've created chamber and community operas for Wigmore Hall, Mahogany Opera and Tete a Tete Opera. They've been commissioned by Art on the Underground, London Sinfonietta, BBC Ten Pieces/BBC Proms, Ligeti Quartet and the National Theatre. They co-founded Juice Vocal Ensemble and make alt-folk as You Are Wolf. They've written three novels (published by Jonathan Cape and Atlantic Books) and have been twice shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award. They won the Edinburgh Short Story Award 2024 and the New Writing North Fiction Award 2025. www.kerryandrew.net
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Flora is a singer, director and storyteller with a reputation for powerfully sung and vividly characterised performances. She was appointed Artistic Director of OperaUpClose in 2022, motivated by a passion for the power and currency of the artform.
Recent critically acclaimed work includes Bertha in ETO’s production of Wier’s Blond Eckbert and her directorial debut for OperaUpClose, a bold reimagining of Vaughan Williams’ Riders to the Sea.
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Nikki Charlesworth is a Theatre Designer, Maker and Facilitator, Puppet Designer and Puppeteer. Passionate about access, inclusion and breaking down barriers for Deaf and disabled artists and audiences, Nikki has worked at the forefront of disabled-led theatre making, championing the creative integration of access. Her work as a designer has visited both theatres and unconventional spaces across the UK and internationally. Recent/current collaborations include: Diverse City, Buxton Opera House, 1623 Theatre Company, LipService Theatre and Leeds Playhouse. Nikki also creates new work as Designer and Director under Nikki Charlesworth Productions and has toured nationally and internationally. Her work is unique in its nurturing focus on puppetry, health and disability for young audiences. Shows include: What Happened to You? and The Luckiest Girl Alive. Most recently, Nikki designed Planet Omar (Leeds Playhouse) which is currently on tour.
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Claire has designed the lighting for a wide range of shows, including theatre, dance, opera and puppetry. She is an associate artist with Half a String, where her credits include Tiny Planet, The Snowsmith, Boulder and Under the Frozen Moon. Lighting designs for theatre include 100 Years and Push (Popelei Theatre), Humane (True Name Productions), Sherlock Holmes: The Sign of Four and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Blackeyed Theatre) and I Am Beast, Killing Roger and The Girl With No Heart (Sparkle and Dark). Lighting designs for opera include Ring of Fire, Kaj Nazar and Anoush (London Armenian Opera), As One and Imoinda (Lontano), Mozart vs Machine (Mahogany Opera Group), Robin Hood (The Opera Story), 1000 Songs (Pinch Punch), and Iolanthe (Charles Court Opera). Lighting designs for dance productions include Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Alice and Dracula (Chantry Dance Company) and NowHere and Forgot Your Password? (Divya Kasturi).
www.clairechilds.co.uk
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Helen is passionate about making live music accessible to everyone. Throughout her
distinguished career as Associate Principal Flute with the Royal Scottish National
Orchestra, she worked extensively in a wide range of community settings, including all
educational settings, hospitals, children's hospices, brain injury rehabilitation
programmes, care homes and the Learning Disabled Community. Her belief in the power
of music to connect people, transform lives and promote inclusion remains at the heart of
everything she does.
Alongside her community work, Helen is Professor of Flute at the Royal Conservatoire of
Scotland and a flute tutor with the National Children's Orchestra and the National Youth
Orchestra of Great Britain. She also works as part of the Inspire programme, supporting
teenage musicians to explore orchestral music in greater depth and develop their
confidence, creativity and musical potential.
Helen is a fully qualified Makaton Tutor and incorporates Makaton extensively into her
creative music-making sessions. By combining music and communication, she creates
welcoming and inclusive experiences that enable people of all ages and abilities to
participate, express themselves and connect with others.
Cast
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Susie Buckle trained at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance and has sung roles with companies including Opera North, Opera Holland Park, If Opera, Vache Baroque, Charles Court Opera, Mahogany Opera Group and British Youth Opera.
Susie is committed to developing new work in opera and has enjoyed researching and developing roles with Second Movement, Ignite Music and Co Align (in association with ENO).
Susie is passionate about using music for social change and has worked in a variety of settings, including hospitals, schools, pupil referral units and prisons. With Vache Baroque, Susie performs in the ‘History of Sound’ their flagship education project, which was co-created for young people with profound and multiple learning difficulties.
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Gabriella Liandu is a Zambian-Scottish mezzo-soprano known for her versatility,
performing across a range of genres, from baroque opera to contemporary jazz.
Since 2018, Gabriella has been a member of Ex Cathedra, progressing from
Student Scholar during her Vocal and Operatic studies at the Royal Birmingham
Conservatoire, to Graduate Scholar during her Jazz Masters, and now singing with
the choir professionally. Significant work with the choir includes featuring as the
main soloist on Liz Dilnot Johnson’s latest album Gentle Flame, and her Ivor
Novello Award-winning project When A Child Is A Witness.
Demonstrating her true versatility, she performed a sold out solo set at Cheltenham
Jazz Festival and shortly after, performed the role of Dalinda in Titus L'Empereur at
the Händel-Festspiele Halle with Opera Settecento. She also showcased a concert
of entirely original material in collaboration with University of Birmingham Jazz
Orchestra
In 2020, she joined Lichfield Gospel Choir as Associate Musical Director and they
have since been shortlisted for a Royal Philharmonic Society Award. Additionally,
she works with Vache Baroque bringing music into schools, and with English
National Opera bringing opera-making workshops to under-served areas.
Gabriella serves on Ex Cathedra’s board as Young Person Representative.
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Meera Maharaj enjoys a diverse performing career. Her duo with pianist Dominic Degavino has enjoyed much success, featuring as Countess of Munster Recital Scheme, Tunnell Trust and Park Lane Group artists. Since 2013, she has frequently performed with guitarist James Girling, as the Meraki Duo. They recently won the II Concurs Internacional de Música Cambra Flauta & Guitarra and they were finalists in the 2019 Royal Overseas League competition, as well as International Guitar Foundation Young Artists. She also plays with harpist, Lucy Nolan as Hathor Duo and formed her own flexi-ensemble – Meliora Collective. With a strong interest in outreach work, she’s a Live Music Now artist. Competition successes include first prize in the Royal Academy of Music Flute Competition and Dutch International Flute Competition, plus the Sussex Prize in the 2023 Royal Overseas League competition. She graduated with Distinction in her Masters, studying with Michael Cox at the Royal Academy of Music. In 2017, she graduated from the Royal Northern College of Music, studying with Wissam Boustany and Laura Jellicoe. Meera has played at the Wigmore Hall, Kings Place and Royal Albert Hall at the BBC Proms. She is Co-principal flute of Chineke! Orchestra and appeared as a concerto soloist at Queen Elizabeth Hall.
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Lucy Mulgan is an MD, bassist, composer and workshop leader from Aotearoa New Zealand based in
the UK. She works predominantly in community opera - writing for and working with children,
amateur choirs and charities.
As a bassist, Lucy has performed in community opera projects with Royal Ballet & Opera, NZOpera,
Grimeborn Festival, Longborough Festival Opera, Blackheath Festival Opera, English Touring
Opera, Barefoot Opera, and Tête à Tête Opera.
In 2026 Lucy was commissioned by Royal Ballet & Opera to compose Tales Untapped: A Rotherham
Opera which had 2000+ young people involved in workshops and performance. Since 2019 her
children’s opera RED! has been performed by 12 000+ young people in both Aotearoa NZ and the UK
across seven different productions. Lucy has also had her work performed by BBC Philharmonic,
NZSO, Auckland Philharmonia, London Gay Men’s Chorus, Military Wives Choirs and broadcast on
BBC World (TV), BBC Radios 3&4 and Radio New Zealand.
Lucy has a PhD in Composition from University of York (UK) and a Jazz Performance Diploma from
Massey University (Aotearoa NZ). www.lucymulgan.com
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Phil Wilcox is a baritone and accordionist with a passion for versatility, his career is a patchwork of opera, oratorio, choral conducting, and education leadership. He has performed opera roles with English Touring Opera, Grange Park Opera, Buxton Festival and Waterperry Opera in roles ranging from Dulcamara to Sir Thomas Bertram (Mansfield Park, Dove) and Major General Stanley.
Phil has performed as soloist in all the major concert works with ensembles from across the UK. He conducts several choirs and is proud to be the Learning and Participation Manager for Leeds Song. As an animateur he has collaborated with English National Opera and The Royal Ballet and Opera on a range of projects. www.philwilcox.com
“spell-binding, magical, inventive theatre”
(A View Behind the Arras)
“Inspiring a new generation”
(Teachers in Newham and Hackney)
“Without a doubt, OperaUpClose is a class act”
(Opera Today)
UK Tour Dates
Southampton
Mayflower Studios
Sat 24 Oct
Lichfield
The Hub at St Mary's
Mon 26 Oct
Gainsborough
Trinity Arts Centre
Tue 27 Oct
Norwich
Stage Two, Norwich Theatre
Weds 28 Oct
Luton
Hat Factory Arts Centre
Thurs 29 Oct
South London
Stanley Arts
Fri 30 Oct
Milton Keynes
The Stables (Jim Marshall Auditorium)
Fri 6 Nov
East London
Half Moon
Sat 31 Oct
Bath
The Egg Theatre
Sat 7 & Sun 8 Nov
West London
Grand Junction
Sat 14 Nov
North London
Jacksons Lane
Sun 15 Nov
Supported by and in partnership with
Flotsam will drift to a venue
near you soon
Venue booking links for Flotsam will be available soon and released over the coming weeks. In the meantime you can join our email list or follow us on Instagram or Facebook @operaupclose for further updates.