21 May–10 June 2021
Royal Opera House
From the Royal Opera House website:
Current, Rising is a 15-minute hyper reality opera experience, combining virtual reality with a multisensory set, blending historic stagecraft with cutting-edge technology. It invites audiences to step into an immersive, atmospheric virtual world and experience a dream-like journey carried musically by a poem layered in song. It is a radical new way of seeing opera in which you – the audience – are at the centre of the performance.
Inspired by the liberation of Ariel at the end of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Current, Rising will take four people at a time into its magical universe, traversing together the landscapes of the night, from twilight to dawn – exploring ideas of isolation, connection, and collective reimagination – a powerful experience for our time.
Developed by a female-led creative team, this timely artistic experiment is directed by video pioneer Netia Jones and designed by award-winning designer Joanna Scotcher. The music is by renowned composer Samantha Fernando, the libretto is by the celebrated performance maker Melanie Wilson, and the singing voice is acclaimed Baroque and contemporary music soprano Anna Dennis.
