Vampirella: new Irish opera by Siobhán Cleary
21 March 2017 20:00 - 25 March 2017 22:00
Smock Alley Theatre
Smock Alley Theatre
The Royal Irish Academy of Music presents the world première of a new chamber opera, Vampirella, by Irish composer Siobhán Cleary, inspired by a short story by Angela Carter.
Presented in partnership between the Royal Irish Academy of Music and The Lir National Academy of Dramatic Art at Trinity College, performances will take place in Smock Alley Theatre 21st-25th March.
Set in 1914, Angela Carter's story tells of Hero, an English soldier on a cycling holiday in the Carpathian Mountains, who seeks shelter in a lonely castle where he meets and disarms the beautiful vampire Countess. Hero's virgin innocence saves him from being eaten alive by the beautiful blood-sucking woman, but it will not save him from the butchery of the First World War. As the lovely lady vampire meets her match in the person of a virgin boy, so Carter's baroque prose meets its match in Siobhán Cleary's dramatic musical composition, with playful lyricism underpinning the drama, humour and ornate language, and Carter's inspiring original material honed into a libretto by Katy Hayes.
Cast from the Royal Irish Academy of Music and The Lir National Academy of Dramatic Art at Trinity College Dublin
Directed by Conor Hanratty
Conducted by Adrew Synott
Preview: Tuesday 21st March | 8pm | €18/€12
Dates: Thursday 23rd, Friday 24th and Saturday 25th March | 8pm | €20/€15
The opening night performance on Thursday 23rd March will be preceded by a panel discussion in CMC on 'Opera in Ireland in the 21st Century', featuring opera experts from the stage and from behind the scenes.
Venue