Fables – A Film Opera

In co-production with Spitalfields Music
World premiere at Spitalfields Winter Festival, 17 December 2010 then touring

The Boy Who Cried Wolf (traditional) – music by Mira Calix, film by Flat-e with performers from Crisis Skylight (London) and NOAH (Luton)
The Nightingale and the Rose (Oscar Wilde) – music by Emily Hall, film by Gaëlle Denis with performers from The Passage, Connection at St Martins, Queen Mary Hostel (London) featuring singers Mara Carlyle, Alice Grant and cellist Oliver Coates
Hey! Come on Out! (Shinichi Hoshi) – music by Orlando Gough, film by Iain Finlay with performers from Booth Centre (Manchester) and ICC Nottingham
The Hartlepool Monkey (traditional) – music by Andy Mellon/Paul Sartin, film by Tom Marshall with performers from Byker Bridge, Streetwise Choir, Virginia House (Newcastle) and Stages Academy (Middlesbrough) featuring musicians from Bellowhead

Streetwise Opera’s 2010 production will be our second venture into film following the incredible success of My Secret Heart. Fables will be a collection of short, 7-minute Film Operas, each created by our Streetwise Opera performers working with some of the most exciting composers and film-makers working in the UK.

The collection of Film Operas will be given its world premiere with a live theatrical staging at the Spitalfields Winter Festival in December 2010 before the films tour to other festivals, cinemas and venues world-wide.

For the world premiere, Shoreditch Church will be transformed into a magical world of folklore and fable by designer Livi Vaughan (credits include Punch Drunk) and lighting designer Chahin Yavroyan working with director Emma Bernard.

Follow the progress of the production on our Fables blog here.

Grateful thanks to Jerwood Space, Hoult’s Yard and to artistic partners Opera North and The Sage Gateshead for supporting us through our development process . Thanks also to funders of the project Arts Council England, Macquarie Group Foundation, Streetsmart, PRS Foundation, Northern Film and Media, Nottingham City Council, RVW Trust, Middlesbrough Council, Mazars Trust, Garfield Weston Foundation, Spitalfields Music Commissioning Fund and Cruach Trust.

Illustrations for the project above by David Caines.