Rough for Opera

rough for opera returns to the Cockpit Theatre for its fifth edition with first performances of new music for the stage from young composers Kate Whitley and Mike Christie, a Q &A with Professor Paul Barker and a DJ set from composer Isambard Khroustaliov.  

Mike Christie presents an excerpt from his full-length opera 'The Miller’s Wife', a village tale of forbidden love, long kept secrets and tragedy averted, inspired by a discovery Mike made in his own family tree.

Kate Whitley presents 'Scars', a new work for soprano developed from a recent collaboration between the human rights charity Freedom from Torture and its Write to Life creative writing group, opera-club-night Carmen Elektra, and record label 'Nonclassical'. The libretto is based on Write to Life member Stephanie Ndoungo’s 'Reporting to the Doctor', an account of her experience of having a medical examination of the scars on her body, on which evidence to support her case for asylum was gathered.