New Directions digital operas

Music Theatre Wales

About

Elayce is the Artistic Associate at Cardiff-based opera company, Music Theatre Wales where she leads on the NEW DIRECTIONS programme, commissioning artists from across a variety of disciplines to develop original digital opera pieces. She also collaborates with them across the creation of each project as dramaturg.

The ambition of the NEW DIRECTIONS programme is to invite global majority artists who are well-established in their artistic fields, but who have not yet had the opportunity to work in opera, to experiment with the art form of opera, using music (of any genre), text and visuals to produce an operatic work that speaks to a digital audience. The creative invitation is to play with, push at and expand the boundaries of how opera is made, what stories opera tells and who gets to make operatic works.

For more information about MTW’s digital opera work, please visit the MTW website here

INTERBEING

Interbeing, a term coined by Zen master and peace activist, Thich Nhat Hanh, articulates the interconnected existence of all things. Drawing from this term, composer Simmy Singh and librettist and visuals creator ASHA collaborated on an experimental operatic collage, offering provocations that explore humanity's relationship with land and more specifically how human actions are impacting the environment. INTERBEING suggests that everything exists in a state of interconnected being, interwoven and mutually dependent. Employing the physical connection between land and body as a visual and sonic motif, this opera serves both as a call to action and an offering. For full credits and to watch INTERBEING, please visit MTW’s website, here

GRIEF

GRIEF paints a picture of the many stages people go through when encountering grief. Through original music composed by Francesca Amewudah-Rivers, movement choreographed and performed by Arnold Matsena, and spoken word written and performed by Connor Allen, GRIEF explores the impact of loss from the perspective of the body. It is an intimate, physical exploration of what it is to grapple with the residual energy and emotional volatility of grief. For full credits and to watch GRIEF, please visit MTW’s website, here

THE JOLLOF HOUSE PARTY OPERA

Adeola is a budding chef. He brings style and his specialty, vegan jollof. Asha is the tired, hard-working boss of a neighbourhood café. Will her job criteria barriers deter Adeola, or will he bring the flavour party she needs? Welcome to THE JOLLOF HOUSE PARTY OPERA, created by composer and writer Tumi Williams and director Sita Thomas. For full credits and to watch JOLLOF, please visit MTW’s website, here

This opera was further developed into a touring live production that played in Wales in 2023 - for more information about the live production, please click here

PRIDE (A LION’S ROAR)

PRIDE (A LION'S ROAR) was created by composer Renell Shaw, librettist Rachael Young and animator Kyle Legall. It narrates the experience of prejudice that many people of colour have endured: of being told that you are ‘aggressive’ or ‘too loud because your metaphorical roars are unfamiliar within the environments that you have to operate within, and of being made to feel like you have to make yourself smaller to be accepted, turning your roar into a purr so that others don’t feel threatened.

For full credits and to watch PRIDE, please visit MTW’s website, here

SOMEHOW

SOMEHOW was created by composer Jasmin Kent Rodgman and writer and dancer Krystal S. Lowe as 'a love song to ourselves, to those we know and to those we have yet to meet'. It is an exploration of intimacy and relationships, not only between the music and movement, but between performer and audience. Blurring the lines between onstage and onscreen, SOMEHOW offers a redefined operatic experience that embodies how we live today and how we connect to one another.

For full credits and to watch SOMEHOW, please visit MTW’s website, here