riders to the seA
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS’
in development for a nationwide tour in FEBRUARY 2025
Vaughan Williams’ and John Synge’s sung play about family, duty and loss in a sea-faring community, in a new chamber orchestration by Michael Betteridge.
This masterful miniature is partnered with a specially commissioned choral prelude, The Last Bit of the Moon, bringing hope, light and the modern world to a classic. Combining projection, recorded sound and live performance, this is powerfully direct musical storytelling at its most visceral.
riders to the sea
A one-act tragedy written by J M Synge set in an ancient fishing community whose precarious existence relies on young men's capacity to earn a living from the ocean, their primary source of both sustenance and suffering.
Maurya and her daughters live at the mercy of this truth. They get word that another of their ‘menfolk’ has been washed up, setting into motion a seemingly inevitable chain of events that expose the enduring, unresolvable conflict between nature and humanity.
Specifically designed to break down the traditional barriers between pit, stage and audience, Vaughan Williams’ searing score is given intensity and immediacy in a new chamber orchestration by Michael Betteridge for accordion, clarinet and oboe.
the last bit of the moon
A new dramatic prologue with music by Michael Betteridge and words by ArtfulScribe's Community Sirens Collective led by Antosh Wojcik, in response to the epic themes of Riders to the Sea.
The Last Bit of the Moon's chorus will be recorded by a network of community choirs in coastal and dockside locations forming the soundtrack to a new film, made in collaboration with CityEye, which will be integral to the touring production.
Combining live and recorded performances, projection and sound design, and with instumentalists and singers performing on stage together, the production will create a bold aesthetic and compelling new sound world that brings the audience to the very heart of the storytelling.
CREATIVES
-
Described as ‘bold’, ‘colourful’ (The Times), and ‘inventive’ (Financial Times) British-Canadian composer and conductor Michael Betteridge has an eclectic output in which his music draws on the stories of people and places, past and present, animating everything from concert halls and opera stages to slate mines and market squares! As well as creating work for some of the country’s top ensembles, he is passionate about work with communities and leisure time groups.
-
Antosh Wojcik is a writer, drummer, sound designer and facilitator. His spoken word and drumming show, How To Keep Time: A Drum Solo for Dementia was produced by Penned in the Margins, touring the UK and internationally in 2019, supported by Arts Council England. Antosh is the co-writer of the BFI-funded short, ‘Alo’ (2023) with writer-director, Xenia Glen. His work explores memory, heritage, time and glitches.
-
The Community Sirens are a group of writers/poets from the Solent Region. Led by Antosh Wojcik and including Harley Truslove, Ri Baroche, Eve Wright, and Carrie Myshkin, the Community Sirens use their writing to address environmental issues and the climate emergency and act as sirens to encourage behavioural change.
-
Director. Flora is a highly experienced and respected performer, facilitator and producer with a passion for reinvention and co-creation. Following a long association with OperaUpClose singing multiple roles to great critical acclaim, Flora became Artistic Director in 2022 and is thrilled to be leading the organisation through its next stage of evolution.
-
Cheng Keng is a scenographer, lighting and video designer based in London. He was trained at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama Scenography MFA. Theatre credits include: The Littlest Yak (Marlowe studio), Chris Kirk patrickmas (7 Dials Playhouse), Tiger (Omnibus Theatre), 555: Verlaine Eb Prison & Double Bill, 'At the statue of venus’ and ‘La voix humaine’ (Arcola Theatre), 1984( The Cockpit), Let Your Hands Sing In The Silence (Marlowe Theatre), These Words That'll Linger Like Ghosts Till The Day I Drop Down Dead (The Pleasance), The Retreat( Finborough Theatre) The Zone (Taoyuan art centre), Pennyroyal (Finborough Theatre), Sankofa: Before the whitewash( Roundhouse), Beauty and the 7 Beasts (Brixton Jamm), Borders (Drayton Arms Theatre), Blue Island 99 (International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival), and Hello World (NTT, Taiwan).
-
Award-winning British Baritone and Voiceover Artist Neil Balfour began his musical journey as a pianist, punk-rocker, and conductor. He is the first opera singer to be booked by Glastonbury Festival and first to beatbox in an opera at Longborough Festival Opera. Recent highlights include his American debut with Portland Opera, premiers with Welsh National Opera and London Symphony Orchestra. Outside of Opera, Neil is a keen barista, climber and adventure cyclist.
Michael Betteridge
“Co-creating something fresh and contemporary with coastal communities that is in dialogue with Vaughan Williams is unique and powerful work. These operas provide a space to acknowledge the universality of the experiences of all characters, whether it's a mother's loss, or a man facing the force of nature, and reminds us that at its core opera is about human experience and emotion.”
partners
Matthew West, Artful Scribe
“Artful Scribe is thrilled to join forces with OperaUpClose, bringing together contemporary writing and opera to engage new audiences and celebrate modern culture.”
workshop trailers
Snapshots from workshops
"Compelling, striking music theatre of considerable integrity and force.“ The Guardian
"Superb. A frightening intimacy with singing of both subtlety and ferocity.“ Evening Standard
"Makes a powerfully direct impact no opera house can match." The Stage
"Compelling, striking music theatre of considerable integrity and force.“ The Guardian "Superb. A frightening intimacy with singing of both subtlety and ferocity.“ Evening Standard "Makes a powerfully direct impact no opera house can match." The Stage
