Rough for Opera returns

Second Movement's Rough for Opera returns on 24 March at the Cockpit Theatre, Marylebone. Rough for Opera is an evening where the audience gets a chance to hear composers try out new operas or sketches for new operas, and then participate in a Q&A afterwards. This time Kate Whitley will be presenting Scars and Mike Christie will present The Millers Wife.

Whitley's Scars with a libretto by Stephanie Ndoungo is a new work for soprano and is developed from a recent collaboration involving the Human Rights Charity Freedom from Torture. Scars sounds to be quite a challenging work, the text is based on Ndoungo's account of her experience of having a medical examination of the scars on her body, which formed the basis for her case for asylum.

Mike Christie will be presenting an excerpt from his first opera The Miller's Wife, for which he has written his own libretto. The pieces concerns forbidden love, long kept secrets and tragedy, all related to an event in the composer's own family tree.

Afterwards there is a Q & A with the composers and Professor Paul Barker of the Central School for Speech and Drama, then a chance to relax in the bar listening to a DJ set from composer Isambard Khroustaliov.

Further information from the Second Movement website and the Cockpit Theatre website.