Week 3: Friday Events

The third week of the festival continues at 7pm with 'The Moonflower', Boii Theatre's fusion of contemporary opera, theatre, dance and video art inspired by the lives of Margaret Mee and Chico Mendes. They take us on a journey through the flooded forest where we re-discover the Moonflower. Blooming just once in a blue moon, the Moonflower dies with the first morning star. A short, but precious and beautiful life that is worth fighting for. (Music: Mario Ferraro; words Eva Daní?ková; directed by Maja Milatovic-Ovadia. Also, at 7pm, 'The City Weeps'. Frances M Lynch and electric voice theatre present two mini-operas for soprano and electronics – powerful pieces exposing the physical, emotional and psychological consequences of invasion and conquest. 'Baghdad Monologue' (Music and words: Alejandro Viñao,) and'Lonely Sits the City' by Andrew Lovett. First, the inconsolable grief of women told through breath-taking, electrifying vocal theatre. Then, conflict, portrayed through the words of Bush and Blair, a lamenting voice, complex soundscapes, with plucked-strings from an ancient lyre echoing from every corner of the electronic space. At 8.25pm 'Larvae', a free performance art piece from the weird and wonderful world of London-based Luxembourgish composer Catherine Kontz. Her oversize score features 33 white hexagonal flexagons which initially hide the musical material that the singer (baritone Danny Standing) gradually uncovers and then uses to transform the landscape of white into a palette of colourful shapes. Accompanied by six radios! Then, at 8.40pm, 'Wanderlust', the Raven String Quartet makes a musical journey through the diverse traditions that inspire singer-composer-pianist Ezra Axelrod. From the haunting refrains of Ravel chants to the nostalgia of Argentine tango, from the twang of bluegrass to the swirling riffs of Wolof folk song. Evening ends at 9.45pm with 'Yellow' (music Daniel Saleeb; texts Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Daniel Saleeb and Ossian. From dirty limericks to marital psychosis, SoS Music Theatre explores madness and mental strain in a highly original interdisciplinary operatic work embracing quadraphonic sound, live video and an immersive stage design to re-examine the audience's relationship with opera. Featuring Miranda Heldt.