OperaUpClose tour one-act opera Riders to the Sea to Chichester

Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com 
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
Visit Shots! now
OperaUpClose bring the classic one-act opera Riders to the Sea to the Minerva Theatre, Chichester on February 11.

Featuring music from Ralph Vaughan Williams, the show follows a woman and her daughters and the men they rely on in an ancient fishing community and explores family, duty, grief and loss. The production is part of their reinventions programme which is made up of two other one act operas by Puccini and Strauss reimagined for the modern world as part of their aim to make opera for everyone.

Spokeswoman Elaine Jones said: “Building on elements of the company's reworking of The Flying Dutchman in 2023, the orchestra will again be intrinsic players in the narrative breaking down traditional barriers between pit, stage and audience.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“The production will feature a specially commissioned choral Prologue The Last Bit of Moon, with a poetic libretto co-written by ArtfulScribe’s Community Sirens Collective led by cross-disciplinary artist Antosh Wojzik, set to music by Michael Betteridge. The chorus is currently being recorded by a network of male and low-voice community choirs from across the UK including the award-winning LGBTQ+ open access choir The Sunday Boys and will be central to a sound and visual language for the production that combines live performance with projection and recorded sound.

In collaboration with Southampton-based independent film charity CityEye, The Last Bit of the Moon was presented as a stand alone film previewed ahead of Riders to the Sea at Southampton Film Week 2024. Vaughan Williams’ epic score has been reworked for chamber ensemble by Michael Betteridge in a compelling musical dialogue between the contemporary and the established. Riders to the Sea is presented by OperaUpClose in association with MAST Mayflower Studios.

A contemporary take on Puccini’s comic opera Gianni Schicchi or Where There’s a Will tours to mid-scale spaces in 2026. Performer, director, producer and writer Hannah Kumari (ENG-ER-LAND, Arcola Theatre) and composer Vahan Salorian (Re-Emergence, Hackney Empire) – will transport the timeless story of avarice and family conflict to an unnamed seaside town in present-day UK. A radical new version of Richard Strauss’s Salome is in development to tour nightclubs and cabaret spaces in early 2027.

“OperaUpClose is a national touring opera company with storytelling, partnership and innovation at its heart. Intimate in scale and mighty in impact. Since 2009 they have grown from their first Olivier-Award winning production in a 35-seat theatre above a pub to the opera company with the widest geographical reach pre-pandemic; to the only full-time resident opera company in the south-west working with multi-artform collaborators from our home at the dynamic cultural hub MAST, Southampton. OperaUpClose extend the appeal, relevance and reach of the artform with cross-disciplinary and co- creative commissions performed alongside bold, re-interpretations of established material. They engage the most exciting, emerging creative talent to distil the essence of classic operas into new, contemporary chamber works with their own artistic integrity and excellence, bringing the new and the established together in visceral, up-close theatrical productions.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Director Flora McIntosh added: “We are bringing together brilliant contemporary writing with inherited repertoire to champion the power of opera as a musically excellent, intimate theatrical experience. We are so excited to be programming work with such extraordinary and diverse artists from across the sector.”

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.

Follow us
©National World Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.Cookie SettingsTerms and ConditionsPrivacy notice