Rough for Opera

Second Movement's Rough for Opera returns to the Cockpit Theatre, Gateforth Street, London, NW8 8EH on Sunday 6 July, 2014. The event presents snapshots from three operas in progress, along with the opportunity for a Q&A after each performance led by Prof Paul Barker of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Tehran based composer Amir Mahyar Tafreshipour is bringing extracts from the second act of his opera The Doll Behind the Curtain. Based on a short story by Sadegh Hedayat with a libretto by Dominic Power, Tafreshipour presented extracts of act one to a previous Rough for Opera. Composer Alex Paxton is presenting The Equivocal Harriet Bowdler, a piece for actor baritone and ensemble (including accordion and jazz sackbut) exploring the early 19th century editor of the expurgated Family Shakespeare! Finally Leo Geyer will present scenes from his opera Sideshows, written in collaboration with poet Martin Kratz. (I saw their previous collaboration The Mermaid of Zennor in 2012).