Opera in a Day

 
An Opera in a Day brought together some of our regular Happy Mondays attendees with students from Highbury Grove, Islington Arts and Media and Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Schools.  Their challenge: to produce – in just six hours – their own opera based on the source material for April de Angelis and Errollyn Wallen’s Opera, The Silent Twins.

The participants took the same starting point as April and Errollyn had: Marjorie Wallace’s book, The Silent Twins, which tells the true story of June and Jennifer Gibbons, mute identical twins who eventually ended up in Broadmoor Mental Hospital after committing arson.

You can find out more about the twins by clicking the Lostlings link on the left.

Working with The Silent Twins Assistant Director, Sarah Tipple, the musical director Jonathan Williams and Projects Co-ordinator Ned Glasier, the participants created 8 scenes, sung to music which told the twin’s incredible story.

“By combining music, movement and drama we were given a real insight into what it would be like to create a professional opera.”
- Lindsay, participant.