From the SS Great Britain in Bristol to a former turbine factory in Liverpool, a radically re-imagined Wagner masterpiece tours to waterside venues
Words by Glyn Maxwell | Orchestration by Laura Bowler in association with Robin Wallington | Directed by Lucy Bradley
At Invisible Wind Factory, Liverpool, from Saturday 22nd – Sunday 23rd July
Bringing the maritime opera to audiences in unconventional performance venues at waterside locations, award-winning OperaUpClose in partnership with recent RPS Award winning Manchester Camerata reinvigorate Wagner’s classic with an English libretto by poet and novelist Glyn Maxwell and an 8-piece chamber orchestration by Laura Bowler.
The Flying Dutchman is a haunting political tale exploring the displacement of people and the psychology and realities of living on an island with hardening borders, bringing an urgent and contemporary relevance to the fable of the ships captain cursed to roam the sea forever. Opening at Turner Sims in Southampton, The Flying Dutchman will then tour across the UK to extraordinary performance spaces in waterside locations finishing at Invisible Wind Factory, Liverpool.
The production steers from traditional ‘end-on’ performance, breaking the fourth wall and immersing the audience directly in the world of the story. It dismantles the traditional barriers between pit, stage and orchestra with all performers, instrumentalists and singers, having equal agency as storytellers. It includes pre-recorded voices from a national network of community choirs, a virtuosic chamber orchestra and a principal cast of internationally- renowned opera singers.
Artistic Director Flora McIntosh said, “This Dutchman is a meeting of classic material with strong, contemporary voices creating a powerful dialogue between the old and the new. Reconceived as a tale of paranoia, propaganda and people smuggling, performed in places and spaces that connect directly to the material, this production takes a highly theatrical and innovative approach to musical storytelling.”
Listings information
22 – 23 July Invisible Wind Factory, Liverpool
3 Regent Road, Liverpool L3 7DS
7:30pm | £25.00 (£15 concs)
www.invisiblewindfactory.com | 0151 236 8944
And also touring across the UK:
28 June – 1 July Turner Sims Southampton
4 – 5 July SS Great Britain, Bristol
7 – 8 July Worthing Pavilion, Worthing
12 – 14 July Grand Junction, London
18 – 19 July Trinity Market, Hull
