Cocteau, Crows and Edgar Allen Poe; Britten, butchery, baritones and blood. Young tongues licking life into old lyrics.

Fresh works given birth before your ears.
There must be feathers on the bird…

GRIMEBORN IS BACK

Grimeborn – The Opera Festival
Curated by Andrew Steggall

Monday 9th August and Tuesday 10th August

Britten – THE PRODIGAL SON

Mendelssohn – THE HOMECOMING

Wednesday 11th August and Thursday 12th August

Bernstein – TROUBLE IN TAHITI

Burke & Waterfield – SPILT MILK

Friday 13th August and Saturday 14th August

Britten – THE RAPE OF LUCRETIA

Monday 16th August

Scott & Curtis – VICE

Sunday 15th August and Tuesday 17th August

Rogers – THE RAVEN

Roulston – CROW

D’Heudieres & Evans – POISON GARDEN

Wednesday 18th and Thursday 19th August

Moore – THE DIARIES OF ADAM AND EVE

Le Gendre – HOW I WONDER

Campkin & Reynolds – STONE HEART

Friday 20th August and Saturday 21st August

Hughes & Morris – COCTEAU IN THE UNDERWORLD

Glass – LES ENFANTS TERRIBLES

Performance Details

August 9 & 10
Section 3 and Ryedale Festival Opera present

Britten THE PRODIGAL SON
Mendelssohn THE HOMECOMING

These two short operatic works tell the story of a homecoming. Britten’s dark church parable, inspired by a painting by Rembrandt, is the Biblical story of an errant son, returning home the woser for his travels. This will be the world premiere of the new translation by John Warrack.

Director: Joe Austin
Musical Director: Elizabeth Burgess
Designer: Simon Kenny
Lighting Design: James Turner-Inman

August 11 & 12

Bernstein TROUBLE IN TAHITI
Burke & Wakefield SPILT MILK

Trouble in Tahiti searches under the skin of one couple’s American Dream, with Bernstien’s trademark upside-down jazz, hispanic syncopations and deeply felt melodies. Paired with brand new opera Spilt Milk set in the 1980’s, drawing on disco, electro and flemenco in a dark take on the perils of materialism.

Trouble In Tahiti
Words and Music: Leonard Bernstein
Conductor: Timothy Burke
Director: Nina Brazier
Designer Polly Webb-Wilson
Costume Designer Guilia Scrimieri

Spilt Milk
Composer / Conductor: Timothy Burke
Librettist: James Waterfield

August 13 & 14

Britten THE RAPE OF LUCRETIA

Prince Tarquinius is tired of willing women. But Lucretia is chaste. A dangerous bet provokes him to pursue his fascination with her. The Rape of Lucretia is Benjamin Britten’s gripping opera that explores the struggle between love, fidelity, ambition, power and the shocking consequences. ‘When Tarquinius desires, then Tarquinius will dare’.

By Benjamin Britten
Director: Max Key
Designer Sarah Bacon
Conductor Thomas Blunt

Lucretia: Catherine Hopper
Female Chorus: Natasha Jouhl
Bianca: Sara Gonzalez-Saavedra
Lucia: Lucy Hall
Tarquinius: Adam Green
Male Chorus: Nathan Vale
Junius: Nicholas Lester
Colltinus: Tim Dickinson

August 15 & 17

Rogers THE RAVEN
Roulston CROW
Waistcoat Company presents d’Heudieres & Evans POISON GARDEN

The Raven: The Raven in inspired by Edgar Allen Poe’s poem, and uses extracts from Poe’s text. ‘The Man’ compulsively relives the events described in the poem, trying to free his mind from the terrible burden of memory. The ever-present, menancing figure of The Raven watches and waits.

Composer: Matt Rogers
Director: Sinead O’Neill
Designer: Sarah Bacon

Crow: This short piece is inspired by Celtic mythology and deals with the Crow, an enitity whose task is to guide the souls of the dead to the underworld.

Director: Mark McInnes
Composer: Michael Rouston

Poison Garden: The Poison Tree creates a garden, but nothing lives. In vain it created life after life, but fails every time. Until a stranger offers help. The Sick Rose must be taken to the light; otherwise it will perish with The Garden. Based on the poetry of William Blake, this electronic opera explores the creative imagination as it strives for inspiration. Can an artist create with a mind poisoned by longing?

Direction, Design and Libretto: Daisy Evans
Music and Music Direction: Louis d’Heudieres
Producer: Oliver Wood

August 16

Scott & Curtis VICE

We present the first complete industry showcase of Vice, musical theatre inspired by The Revenger’s Tragedy, a sardonic Jacobean tale of murder, incest and corruption. Brutal, lyrical, passionate and comic, Vice proceeds at a wild pace, propelled by the gleeful energy of its plot and the seductive and terrifying rhythms of its music.

Written by: Sue Curtis
Composer: Jools Scott

August 18 & 19

Moore THE DIARIES OF ADAM AND EVE
Le Gendre HOW I WONDER…
Campkin & Atkinson STONE HEART

The Diaries of Adam and Eve: Based on the short stories by Mark Twain, The Diaries of Adam and Eve is a short chamber opera taking a new look at the lives of the first man and woman.

Librettist / Composer: David Josiah Moore
Director: Ben Gwalchmai

How I Wonder…: …is a wide-eyed, reflective look at snapshots of life observed in the street, through glossy magazines, brightly lit windows at night and photographs.

Composer & Librettist: Dominique Le Gendre
Director: Irene Brown

Stone Heart: A boy has had his heart turned to stone by abuse at the hands of his father, and the experience of war. He is unable to respond to others, but is aware of strength and ‘beauty’, both of which he knows he lacks. He longs for these attributes, to achieve respect and revenge, but also wonders what folk mean when they talk about ‘love’.

Composer: Alexander Campkin
Librettist: Donald Atkinson

August 20 & 21

Heather Doole for Metta Theatre presents Hughes & Morris COCTEAU IN THE UNDERWORLD
Volta Theatre Company presents Philip Glass LES ENFANTS TERRIBLES (UK Premiere)

Cocteau In The Underworld: Jean Cocteau – poet, filmmaker, artist, novelist, opium addict – struggles with writer’s block. The Princess, a glamorous stranger arrives and forces him to make a choice between love and fame….a work in progress showing of this new opera featuring video & projection.

Composer: Ed Hughes
Librettist: Roger Morris
Director: Poppy Burton-Morgan
Video, Set & Lighting Designer: William Reynolds
Conductor: Carlos Del Cueto

Les Enfants Terribles: Excluded from school, Paul and his sister Lise create a private world of their own imaginings, but their innocent games soon take a dangerous turn. ‘Les Enfants Terribles’ is a sinister tale of youthful hedonism and frenzied pleasure where the rules of the Game dictate that two children must die.

Director: Andrea Ferran
Design: Sarah Bacon