The Times “Puccini meets Knives Out; I loved it”

Short excerpt: OperaUpClose’s touring reinvention of Puccini’s one-acter, which opened at the Mayflower Studios in Southampton, is gleefully subversive and deliciously entertaining… READ THE FULL ARTICLE »

Top highlights:

• “Hannah Kumari has freely played with the opera’s underlying ideas... the result is genuinely funny”

• “Contemporary and genuinely funny”

• “Intelligently directed by PJ Harris”

• “Puccini meets Knives Out; I loved it”

• “Hats off to Vahan Salorian, who has cleverly boiled down Puccini’s score for violin, clarinet, double bass and accordion”

The Stage “an impressive tour de force”

Short excerpt: Best of all, OperaUpClose’s ongoing Ensemble of Storytellers philosophy puts the players on stage – not apologetically in a corner, but costumed and part of the cast. Required to interact, act and speak, as well as play the score from memory. It’s an impressive tour de force and absolutely central to this adaptation’s lightly worn theatrical reimagining. READ THE FULL ARTICLE »

Top highlights:

• “A new English text by Hannah Kumari rips up Puccini’s scenario with gleeful abandon”

• “an impressive tour de force”

• “PJ Harris and OperaUpClose’s zesty reinvention”

• “Dan D’Souza’s charismatic Schicchi”

• “a clever treatment, matched for imagination by Vahan Salorian’s reduction... transforms Puccini’s orchestra into a four-piece band”

Overtures Live On Stage “fresh and new, a totally enjoyable evening”

Short excerpt: For once a modern interpretation retains all the intrigue and characterisations of the original but very cleverly has shifted everything, believably, to modern day Britain. For anyone that hasn’t seen an OperaUpClose production before part of their magic is that every aspect of the opera is there on stage in front of you, the performers, the musicians, the soloists – each has their role and are very effective as a complete ensemble. READ THE FULL ARTICLE »

Top highlights:

• “Fresh and new, a totally enjoyable evening”

• “Voices of outstanding quality”

• “OperaUpClose is the lifeline that we need”

• “Much of the success… to the credit of Artistic Director and CEO Flora McIntosh along with composer Vahan Salorian and librettist Hannah Kumari”

Thank you to everyone who made it along to our premiere and first performances in Southampton. We’re now on the road to Chichester Festival Theatre’s Minerva Theatre for our next stop on the UK Tour (11-12 March). Many venues are close to capacity, so please do book your tickets while you still can at a venue near you.

“Thanks to the brilliant Broder for partnering with OperaUpClose to workshop ideas for a Wilde new take on Strauss’ Salome. What a pleasure and a privilege to be at the beautiful Arca Theatre in Ghent with a team of truly exceptional women, diving deep into music, language, psychology and heritage. An intense and exhilarating few days culminated in a live sharing and discussion—the opening event in Broder’s 10 Wilde Nights season, part of the genuinely wild Gentse Feesten 2025. We can’t wait to share more as this thrilling project unfolds.”

The intention of the workshops were to take the very first steps towards an entirely new English language libretto inspired by Oscar Wilde’s original play, Salome. We explored themes of gender identity and power in the text, and experimented with a bold new electronic and acoustic sound world.

This process was led by a visionary team of women artists:

• Writer/Dramaturg: Toria Banks

• Director: Anna Morrissey

• Composer: Phoenix Rousiamanis

• Writer: Athena Stevens (joined virtually from the U.S.)

Salome is part of our programme, The Reinventions. A series of three one-act operas reimagined for the modern world in thrilling new chamber orchestrations by some of the UK’s most exciting composers and writers. You can view the full trailer here:

We’re grateful to the Arca Theater and Ghent Festival for hosting these workshops and to BRODER for their invaluable input and passion to the early development of this project. We look forward to launching the production page for Salome very soon, in the meantime if you have any questions or want to know more about the project, please feel free to get in touch. 

OperaUpClose Artistic Director and Director of OperaCocktail, Flora McIntosh, is thrilled to bring OperaCocktail to Worthing, Isle of Wight and London for the remainder of our nationwide Summer Tour, and promises an evening of emotional depth, humour, and musical brilliance. She said:

“Following a brilliant reception across the country this summer, OperaUpClose are so excited to be bringing a little operatic magic to Worthing. This fresh, English language take on classics will delight avid opera fans and newcomers alike - a wonderful way to discover opera through a delightful, accessible cocktail of music, friendship and love.”

What can audiences expect from OperaCocktail?

Set against the backdrop of a summer's day picnic, OperaCocktail follows five friends navigating the complexities of life and love. The production features a dynamic selection of arias and ensembles from renowned composers such as Puccini, Mozart, Verdi, Bizet, and more. This vibrant, one-hour performance offers a fresh take on beloved opera classics, presented in sparkling English translations and infused with modern sensibilities. Opera lovers and curious newcomers alike can look forward to iconic pieces like the "Habanera" from Carmen, the "Drinking Song" and La Traviata.

OperaUpClose continues its mission to make opera accessible and engaging, bringing high-quality productions to both traditional theatres and unconventional spaces. The ensemble cast features some of the UK's brightest talents, with performances by:

• Felicity Buckland as Carmen (Mezzo)

• Elinor Jane Moran as Tanya (Soprano)

• Brenton Spiteri as Freddie (Tenor)

• James Longford as Joe (Piano)

• Hannah Shilvock as Lenny (Clarinet)

To get tickets for upcoming performances and learn more about the production, follow the link below:

City Eye, in collaboration with the award-winning opera company OperaUpClose, proudly announces the release of a new film of ‘hip and edgy’ (The Independent) composer Michael Betteridge’s The Last Bit of the Moon, a haunting and poetic story of loss, memory, and redemption. Commissioned for the stage as a dramatic prologue to Vaughan Williams’ one-act sung play Riders to the Sea, with words by Antosh Wojcik and Artfulscribe’s Community Sirens, The Last Bit of the Moon is now reimagined for the screen in a compelling new format that blends evocative visuals and psychological depth.   

Directed by Southampton-based filmmaker Aaron James West, the film follows Bartley, a man imprisoned by grief over the childhood drowning of his brother, Michael. Isolated in the dead of night, Bartley struggles to write but is instead consumed by voices and shadows from his past. As these Shadows take on an increasingly sinister presence, the Moon appears as a guide, offering Bartley a chance to revisit the truth of his memories and rediscover clarity within the chaos of his pain.  

Since graduating from Solent University in 2017, Aaron has enjoyed a variety of freelance projects in the film industry, in particular the short thriller 'Alien: Containment,' produced in collaboration with 20th Century Fox to celebrate 40 years since the release of Ridley Scott's ground-breaking film. More recently, Aaron has overseen production for Collaborative Media, a London-based film company producing corporate video and documentary programmes broadcast on Sky Channel 182. As City Eye's Head of Production, he is keen to use his knowledge and experience to push the organisation to even greater heights through its own projects and in its support of established and developing filmmakers.  

We spoke to Aaron more about his career and the inspiration behind this project: 

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1.       Tell us a little bit about yourself and CityEye 

I am a writer and filmmaker with a background in film, photography, and production. For the last 3 years I have worked at City Eye, an independent film charity in Southampton. As Head of Production, I oversee filmmaking projects and support emerging and established talent to achieve their filmmaking goals. I champion innovation and collaboration wherever I can in the ever-evolving world of visual storytelling. 

2.       How did you feel about turning The Last Bit of the Moon into a film? 

I was drawn to the themes of loss and grief explored in Riders to the Sea. When I learned that OperaUpClose were working to produce a prologue I was fascinated and eager to hear what they’d come up with. I found the music and words for Last Bit of the Moon moving and was inspired by director Flora McIntosh's compelling vision. The film afforded me the opportunity to experiment with film and challenged me to find a cinematic language that could complement the operatic form.  

3.       How did you show Bartley's memories and emotions on screen? 

The film uses a mix of footage, blending stock imagery with sequences filmed in and around Southampton, including at City Eye and Calshot beach. I used various techniques - filming through glass prisms and water to create distortion effects that suggested the purgatory world of the deceased character Bartley. I also utilised a lens baby and tilt-shift lenses where possible and was keen to employ various lighting effects in-camera, as this allowed me to blend traditional narrative techniques with more abstract, poetic imagery. 

4.       The piece has a strong mood and setting. How did you create that atmosphere? 

Everything starts with the music. Even in straight drama, for a film to have an identity it must have rhythm and pace. This is dictated by the script and from that everything follows. The captivating music and inspiring words developed for The Last Bit of the Moon evoked dramatic and ethereal imagery of a man in conflict with himself. The film attempts to furnish a beautifully crafted opera with an abstract visual narrative. 

I also felt it was important to film locally, particularly because the words were crafted by local writers and people with a relationship to the sea, in much the same way as the characters populating Riders to the Sea. I grew up in a seaside town and am familiar with awe inspiring big skies and the unsettling feeling of agoraphobia an endless sea can bring.  

5.       What does the Moon mean in the story, and how did you use it in the film? 

The moon is a romantic symbol in mythology representing eternal cycles - life, death and rebirth. In The Last Bit of the Moon, it is a guiding light offering hope in darkness. The moon is also often associated with strong feminine energy and motherhood. In Riders to the Sea, the mother character, Maurya, is a powerful embodiment of enduring grief and the inevitability of loss. Maurya mirrors the moon, bound to the tide’s cyclical rhythm as her sons are repeatedly lost to the sea. The imagery of the twin brothers riding their bicycles near water reinforces the idea of repeated cycles and inescapable doom.  

6. What was it like working with OperaUpClose on this project? 

It’s always exciting to engage with different creative minds. Collaborating with the team behind Riders to the Sea was an enriching experience. There was a real sense of shared purpose in bringing this prologue to life. The openness and trust within the team made it a joy to collaborate and I came away from the process feeling both challenged and inspired. 

7.       You usually support other filmmakers—what was it like to direct something so personal? 

I am a filmmaker and have been making films for 15 years. As Head of Production at City Eye, I have mentored emerging film talent in the south-central region through programmes such as the BFI Film Academy. The Last Bit of the Moon was a unique experience that allowed me to embrace my own creative voice. It reaffirmed my belief that film should be used to express what words often cannot. 

8.       What do you hope people feel or think about after watching the film? 

I hope the film invites people into a world they might not typically explore and that it sparks curiosity about opera. For those who did not have the chance to see the live performance, this film offers a chance to appreciate this new and original piece of work.  

9.       Did anything surprise you while making the film? 

I was surprised by how naturally the worlds of opera and film could merge when approached with care and respect for both forms. The desire to produce an abstract film that retained the deep themes and meaning of the live performance was a challenge in itself - knowing what to show, keep or cut. I was also surprised by the wealth of compelling stock footage that could be seamlessly mixed with my own footage and not distract but enhance the overall vision.  

10.   How did your experience in film and photography help with this project—and what are you working on next? 

My background in film and photography was invaluable in shaping the visual language of The Last Bit of the Moon. Working behind the camera has taught me how to frame emotion, use light to evoke mood or which lenses to use for various effects. I did learn a lot through the making of this film and will be taking those lessons forward into my next projects. As for what’s next, I’m continuing to develop my own creative work alongside mentoring emerging filmmakers. 

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Can you describe the design aesthetic of Opera Cocktail?

The design is intended to communicate a bright, summery day in a place such as a park or lakeside.  It’s not an overly curated design: many of the items are brought on stage by the cast.  The painting that’s on an easel is also helpful in suggesting the context of the story, and even gives a hint of what will happen during the performance!

How does OperaCocktail provide the opportunity for you to be creative?

As well as the set and costumes, we’ve even created ideas for real cocktails such as the Violetta Martini (named after the female protagonist of La Traviata!) and the Donizetti Daquiri.  Design is a wide ranging skill and we’ve had lots of opportunities to use our imaginations and have some fun!

What was your route into being a designer?

At school I liked making things, and took subjects such as Textiles and Art as A Level subjects.  I wasn’t necessarily thinking of theatre design as a career - I did like making costumes though and this is what led to the route I took after I’d looked at a range of courses.  I studied at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and it was a very varied course. We explored different skill sets and all of those then worked towards being a costume and set designer. In the third year of the course I designed for a production of The Winter’s Tale by Shakespeare: this was in conjunction with the actors on the acting course at the college.

What advice can you give to aspiring designers who want to work in theatre?

A lot of my early career involved saying ‘yes’ to various projects - this has included puppetry with the National Theatre of Wales, and working as an assistant to other designers. It’s a slow building career as you gain more and more experience. 

It’s important that you pursue what you enjoy doing, and that you give yourself the practical skills to do it. Show enthusiasm and a willingness to get involved.  

One of the things that I found hardest was introducing myself to people I didn’t know! I realised, though, that just breaking the ice by saying “Hi! I’m Anna!” naturally started a conversation and you never know where that might lead.

Please introduce yourself.

I became Artistic Director of OperaUpClose in 2022. Before this role, I was a full time performer, an opera singer - running a company is a fascinating, challenging, stimulating, terrifying, learning curve! I’ve discover skills I didn’t know I had, creating and curating a programme, and managing fabulous teams of producers and creatives.

What is opera?

Fundamentally, opera is a way of communicating stories told through sound in theatrical productions. The multi-layered nature of opera enhances and distills both the narrative and the characters' emotion, beyond words and obvious action, giving the audience a richer, deeper experience and understanding.

What are the aims of OperaUpClose?

What we really want to show is how theatrical opera is and that it doesn't require a special musical knowledge to understand or enjoy it. It just requires an openness to receive those stories in different ways, which we all do all the time through different mediums. Our work aims to dismantle the concerns that you need to know something about opera first. Part of that approach is about scale: we work at what I call a chamber scale, so there is a special  intimacy and feeling of immersion for audiences seeing our productions. We’re really engaging the audience directly in the stuff that's happening on stage as well as the sound and the singing. We’re keen for our production to be a really responsive space.  Opera can mean many things, but fundamentally, we're storytellers and theatre makers,

Tell us more about OperaCocktail

OperaCocktail is something that feels genuinely contemporary, whilst also echoing the thrilling things that we have in the archive of opera - what you might call the canon. Our five characters are all storytellers. The only difference between an instrumental player and a singer in OperaCocktail is just that they're commenting through their instrument, rather than through words (although they also do sing occasionally!).  It's a real ensemble approach. 

We wanted it to be light touch. We wanted it to be able to do the things that opera can do, which is to make you feel charmed and entertained and then moved, and fundamentally, to really care about these characters. 

It was really important to me that, although OperaCocktail is a ‘jukebox’ opera,  the narrative really doesn’t feel imposed. This is a story in its own right.

How does the set help to tell the story?

Anna’s design gives us a very gentle set. It leans into an aesthetic with OperaUpClose about what opera does, which is that it instantly places you in the hyper real. That’s even represented in how we've decided to have a painting on stage: there is a painting of the thing that you're seeing. There's something slightly meta going on, with the use of Pointillism, where you sort of feel like you're in the land of hyper reality, as you always are, actually, in all theatre. 

How do you want the audience to feel after they see OperaCocktail?

What I really hope is that everyone comes out of it loving the people that they've met in the story and feeling that the music gave them a deeper understanding and connection to the characters. It's a very simple production in the best possible way, but it's told through complex, interesting music. It tells you lots of things without you knowing that you're being told.

Being in the audience for OperaCocktail is a collective experience; an act of gathering and sharing that is so impactful.

How do you help your performers find their characters?

One of the exercises that I do with the cast every time we revisit the show is for them all to tell me what they did yesterday as their characters. And so I'll find out what they did yesterday and what their plan is for the day. It sounds like such a simple thing, but it totally lands us in the world. And of course, then they talk about whether they phoned their friend or who they saw. You know, we discovered that Lenny and Jo have a very interesting life:  they live together. They definitely have a cat, but they're not a couple.  They have a van. They're the kind of voyeurs of the whole afternoon: they quite enjoy seeing this stuff playing out in front of them,

What was your route into being a singer and performer?

Well, I do think I had an advantage. I grew up around the theatre and I wanted to be a performer from an early age, and that felt possible for me, but I was very determined that I wanted to be an actor. People kept suggesting that I sing, but I resisted that quite hard, initially. I had some singing lessons, and I was taken to see an opera which I loved. I thought it was cool but required a level of discipline that maybe I didn’t have or wasn’t interested in. But singing just was sort of what I did so I was encouraged to audition for the Junior Royal Academy of Music (a Saturday school). I was successful and that training made me a much more disciplined musician. There was a singing teacher who directed me towards operatic music, even though I didn’t consider myself to be on a classical music/opera path. In the end mine was a fairly traditional route into training and I went to the Royal Northern College of Music, but I didn’t ever really fit into a traditional career trajectory for opera. I realised that I’m also very interested in process and the making of the work, and subverting expectations. I love exercising the performance muscles, but I love thinking about how the story is communicated and ways we can tell stories.

My career demonstrates how many transferable skills there are in being a musician and performer. I don’t mean just in having performance skills, but being able to manage a team, solve problems and engage people in what you’re doing. It's so important. Obviously, I'm still working in the arts, but it goes across everything. Whether you're a plumber, a musician, or any other job, you need to know how to talk to somebody - it's about being able to read the room and empathise with people. There is a huge need across all industries for creative thinkers - The Arts give us a way in.

Please can you introduce yourself?

I’m a professional musician, I play the clarinet and I’ve performed in several OperaUpClose projects.  

How is OperaCocktail different from some of the other productions you’ve played for?

The two musicians, Jo and Lenny, participate in the action in OperaCocktail: they are characters within the narrative. As a musician, that’s an added element to playing the score and it has definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone! Several OperaUpClose projects have involved this type of involvement: in The Flying Dutchman the small orchestra of eight players became the chorus for example. In one production we even formed part of the scenery!

What do you love about your job?

Music as a whole allows me to experience life in ways I never imagined.  It’s a job that allows me to travel - OperaCocktail was performed on a cruise ship and I got to travel to New York, then return on board a ship! That was a unique experience. I’ve travelled to China, the Middle East and Europe as well as playing in towns and cities across the UK. Those tours allow you to visit places that you wouldn’t otherwise go to.

I also feel like I’ve been able to travel through different periods of time: the repertoire that I’ve played in my career has taken me through Germany, the early Soviet Union, Central Europe at the height of the Austrian Empire! The range of music allows me to explore bygone eras.

Do you have a typical day at work?

No, and that’s why I love it!  I do a lot of peripatetic teaching, playing in productions, working with children and babies in singing groups: in my job I find myself interacting with lots of different parts of society.  My work has varied from working in a primary school building an orchestra from scratch, to playing for OktoberFest in various beer gardens, where we played a mixture of German music and popular classics like ‘Sweet Caroline’! All of these experiences create a magically communal experience and I’m lucky enough to call this my job!

Can you explain the benefits of playing in an orchestra or ensemble?

Performing with colleagues and friends creates a wonderful collective experience.  We can be fully present with each other for two hours or so: you can’t think about anything else! Society’s obsession with phones and devices can be so de-energising but playing music creates an aesthetic experience for the audience and the musicians.

I played in Saturday ensembles when I was a teenager, and this was where I found my sense of belonging: I found my people! Music provides us with so much beyond simply playing a melody on a single instrument.

We’re always told that practise is really important when playing an instrument. Why is that?!

I promise that things like scales do become second nature! As you progress to more and more difficult music, or to a professional level, we don’t always have very much rehearsal time.  We are constantly playing different repertoire, from different styles and periods, which is wonderful. But the more you practice, the easier it is to adapt and respond to that different music.

Can you tell us a little bit more about your professional training?

I began playing the clarinet at primary school and progressed through secondary schools. I went to a sixth form college that took its catchment from a wide area so I was working with the county’s best musicians! I won a BBC Shropshire Young Musician competition, and went to the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, which is in Cardiff. I then studied at the Royal College of Music for two years and in 2018 was a Fellow of the Southbank Sinfonia (now the Sinfonia Smith Square).  That’s a graduate orchestra, and was a great place to start my career. I met people from all over the world there.

This series looks at Michael Betteridge, the composer of our upcoming production of Riders To the Sea. We will ask questions to discover what inspires his music, his creative process, and the influence of his work. Betteridge's insights and experiences have really helped to enrich our appreciation of this significant piece, appealing to both fans and newcomers.

How did you become involved in music?

Neither of my parents were particularly engaged with music when I was growing up, but my Mum did buy a really cheap out of tune (but beautiful!) piano to ‘have around the house’. I was enamoured with it from a young age and my parents were kind enough to support piano lessons. I never intended to go into music professionally, especially as it never felt like a secure career choice, but around the age of 16 when doing work experience I realised it was something I just had to do. I studied at the University of Manchester and really fell in love with music.

How did you get involved in the project?

I was involved as one of the community choral leaders for one of OperaUpClose’s previous projects The Flying Dutchman and, around the same time, Flora came to see a semi-staged song cycle of mine called Voices of the Sands. The themes in that work, as well as mine and Flora’s shared passion for opening up creative processes in opera to all, I think - if memory serves (!) - led to Flora inviting me on to this project, which I lept on, of course!

How daunting and fun was it to work with Ralph Vaughan Williams’s score?

Very daunting! It’s a particularly challenging score to rework, especially as it’s a very harmonically rich piece and to reduce that to only a few instruments means tough choices sometimes have to be made. It was Flora’s idea to use an accordion, and I’m so glad she did, otherwise I think it would have lost a lot the flavour of the original. I’ve been very faithful with the arrangement, it’s definitely a reduction, as opposed to a total re-working. However, the original orchestration is huge and even with my faithfulness to it, the new arrangement, I hope, feels very fresh to the ears. This size of ensemble also allows for real intimacy and dynamic contrast that the original does a good job of, but is tricky with such large instrumental forces.

The choir you set up The Sunday Boys have recorded some audio for the show, how do you go about merging pre-recorded audio with a live score?

Good question! It’s not easy! Matt Fairclough has been our audio engineer on the project and we had experience of doing this together on the previous production I mentioned above, The Flying Dutchman. There are lots of ways of merging live and pre-recorded, and some of this will be worked out in the rehearsal room, but our plan is to provide the instrumentalists with a click-track for the moments they need to sync with the prerecord. A sound engineer will trigger the click at the appropriate moments. This will allow for the live musicians to work freely when all the music is live - which is generally a more desirable way of working - and then sync up perfectly with the pre-record when needed.

The show is touring to eight UK locations, what do you hope audiences will take from the production?

Riders to the Sea is such an unusual piece because it is much more a ‘sung play’ as opposed to a grand opera. Our version has really leant into this concept and the reduced orchestration allows for the intimate moments to be even more intense. But, for me, it's the universal themes of family, home, and grief that come to the fore in this work. We all have such different relationships with these three ideas and every member of the audience will experience and interpret the piece in vastly different ways. That’s the beauty of this work and I hope it gives audiences that opportunity to reflect.

What projects do you have in the pipeline?

I actually have another opera touring at the same time as this one! It’s very different: written for English Touring Opera, it’s an opera for children called The Vanishing Forest with words by Jonathan Ainscough and is a sort of sequel to A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I am also waiting to hear whether I have funding for a new Anglo-Icelandic dance opera called She Spoke Ashes that explores gesture and rhetoric in politics. If we are successful this will hopefully go into production in summer 2025 and open in Reykjavik. Watch this space!

In this Q and A, we are pleased to present Flora McIntosh, the director of our upcoming production of "Riders to the Sea". With her insightful vision and deep understanding of the themes woven into this opera, Flora has breathed new life into this timeless tale of struggle and resilience against the relentless forces of nature. We invite you to explore her creative process, the challenges faced, and her reflections on the powerful narrative that resonates so deeply with contemporary audiences.

Why Riders to the Sea?

When OperaUpClose moved to Southampton we were really keen to explore music and stories that reflected the environment and community we were now part of. Stories of and from the sea led me to Riders. What struck me immediately was how much more than the sum of its parts this piece is  - ostensibly a very specific story of a small place, it actually holds huge universal themes of love, grief and home that speak to the core of our humanity. So it is both small and intimate, and epic and mighty - perfect for OperaUpClose. Riders to the Sea is just 40 minutes long in its original form; I saw this as a brilliant opportunity for reinventing and reframing a classic work through commissioning new writing that could illuminate, enhance and expand the original material. And through this reinvention a totally different approach to the narrative has emerged - it’s been a true process of exploration and discovery, one which I’m excited to share.

Do you need to know much about the play or opera to enjoy the show?

I would say, hand on heart, you don’t need to know anything in advance. Just like you don’t need to know anything about a film you might choose to watch, or a book you might choose to read. Sung in English and with captions throughout, there are multiple layers of storytelling going on in this production using sound, video, words, movement…I really hope everyone takes something different from it, there is no ‘right’ way.

This is your directorial debut at OperaUpClose, how are you feeling about that?

Well, I guess the most honest response would be excited, privileged and appropriately terrified! What I have found most rewarding is the bringing together of an exceptional team. When I say privileged, I mean it, working with these brilliant artists is the best; but also directing for OperaUpClose demands a distilling of narrative and  a refocusing of characters which enables a special kind of intensity. There’s nowhere to hide - it’s a thrilling new creative muscle to flex.

This production again (like last year’s The Flying Dutchman) has no pit so the orchestra is on stage with actors, why is presenting your shows in this way important to you?

So much storytelling in opera is told through sound. The instrumental players and the colours and textures they provide are key to the narrative and always so much more than an accompaniment to the singers. Performing at an intimate scale gives us an amazing opportunity to rethink the instruments as key characters in the piece. All the characters speak, just some speak through their instruments and some through their song. Taking this approach dismantles the barrier that a pit can sometimes create - the audience aren’t just receiving the story, they are in it. And our approach to reinvention, not reduction, means we are able to make really strong, contemporary artistic choices that take the classics into a new place for new audiences.

The show mixes recordings and projections with live music and singing. As a director, how do you bring all these elements together?

Yes, it is quite complicated. The key is ensuring you have brilliant people facilitating their area of expertise…I’m lucky, this production is an embarrassment of talent! Bringing those people together in shared purpose and being clear that we are all telling the same story is what my job is really about. Each element weaves together and integrates to create a multi-media, multi-sensory theatrical world that serves the music and drama but never distracts.

Tell us about the captioning in the show
Broadening access to opera and removing the barriers that exist is so important. The approach to captioning integrates the text into the very fabric of the production through font, design and animation so the written word becomes a narrative device that can enhance everybody’s experience of the piece. Integrating the captions this way means that no audience member has to take themselves out of the action if they need/want to read the words - it’s all part of one story and a truly multi-sensory experience.

Riders to the Sea is stopping in eight UK locations, why is touring important to the company?

Touring is central to our activity as a company  - making work locally and touring it nationally allows us to connect with communities and experience a brilliant diversity of response. Particularly working at this scale, we are able to take opera to places that rarely get to experience the art form; and by going to these multiple locations we can truly champion opera as a live, vibrant theatrical experience that can speak directly and powerfully to all audiences.

What do you hope audiences will take from the show?

This is always such a difficult question - audiences always take something different than you imagine they might, and I embrace that. But I hope that some take away an experience that has changed their view of what opera can be and who it is for. And I hope they are given an opportunity to reflect on the great, agonising and beautiful truth that grief is the price we pay for love, nothing is ever really lost and there is always a path to the light.

Read on for some insight into the original material that has inspired our reframed narrative, a reinvention that remains emotional, dramatic and exposes key themes in Riders to the Sea as both timeless and universal. 

John Synge’s play. Riders to the Sea, which Vaughan Williams’ set directly to music, represents a rural Irish community through the key themes of Paganism, Tradition vs. Modernity, and Fatalism. Synge first visited the Aran Islands in 1897 with his friend and poet W B Yeats, returning every summer until 1903. Riders to the Sea was originally inspired by a story told to Synge during his time there, of a man from Inishmaan whose body had washed up hundreds of miles away on the shore of County Donegal. Synge continued listening to and collecting local stories, recording them in his book before selecting the most poignant to feature in scenes of his play. He wanted to create a dynamic that felt culturally authentic and utterly significant to the emotional truth felt between the characters and audience.  

So how are the themes represented throughout the narrative?  

Paganism: Synge’s study of rural Irish communities sparked a fascination with what he noticed as subtle but pervasive paganism. Brought up a protestant, Synge became deeply skeptical of Christianity and was struck by the observation that the people of this Roman Catholic nation were still widely superstitious retaining many of the folktales born from old Celtic Paganism. References to God permeate the play as characters bless, pray, and implore for mercy; but they also lean on Pagan beliefs to cope with their sufferering, exposing a spiritual doubt and feeling of powerlessness that stems from the fragility of life.  

Tradition vs. Modernity: There is a constant tension between acceptance and resistance, highlighting the pull between the traditional and modern worlds of Ireland at the time. With a mother and her children as the main characters, Synge was able to represent this generational tear throughout the play with Mauyra’s mother figure holding fast to the past  whilst her children must change, adapt and move on. The young are battling a deep sense of duty and the need to hold the balance between the two worlds. 

Fatalism: Synge explores an ancient bargain between nature and humanity – the sea is merciless as the giver of both death and life. Based on Synge’s observations of the culture on the Aran Islands, he put the objects and culture of death central to the narrative in the form of coffins, keening, and mourning giving a sense of permanent threat and inevitability. Death awaits us all and, in that acceptance, there is a comfort of sorts. Grief is the price we pay for love. "No man at all can be living for ever, and we must be satisfied. 

OperaUpClose Trustee, Matthew Lyons (Head of Young Company, Chickenshed Theatre) said: 

“Following an open and extensive recruitment process, the decision to appoint Hazel to the Chair of Trustees was entirely unanimous. We are all greatly looking forward to working with her and feel certain her support and guidance will be invaluable to OperaUpClose in the coming years. Hazel succeeds Acting Chair, Charith Cabraal, whose dedication and leadership has helped steer us towards this exciting new chapter in the governance of the organisation.” 

Speaking about her appointment, Hazel Province said: 

"I am thrilled to take on the role of Chair of Trustees at OperaUpClose. I have watched this company grow from its innovative and award - winning beginnings and I greatly admire its commitment to producing thought-provoking opera in such an inclusive and welcoming environment. I am looking forward to working with the OperaUpClose team as they continue to extend their reach and impact whilst boldly challenging the conventions of the traditional opera experience. 

OperaUpClose’s Artistic Director, Flora McIntosh, added: 

"All of us at OperaUpClose are absolutely delighted to welcome Hazel to the team. Her extensive experience, knowledge and networks in the arts, her passion for accessible cultural programming and her track record of developing sustainable business models will be invaluable as we continue to innovate, diversify and evolve the sector through our high quality, adventurous programme. We are so excited for the future and feel stronger than ever under Hazel’s guidance." 

1. Michael grew up in a village called Garsington in South Oxfordshire. He got into music because his mother had bought an old out of tune piano as furniture and - showing a keenness for the instrument - he started lessons shortly before his fourth birthday.

2. When Michael was growing up Garsington Opera was actually based in the village itself (it's now at the Wormsley Estate in Buckinghamshire) and in his teenage years he was a programme seller. He sold programmes to many famous faces including Terry Wogan who was a trustee of the company. He also got to sit in on many of the dress rehearsals.

3. Piano was Michael's main instrument as a young person, but he also played saxophone. Michael's early musical endeavours were very solitary and he didn't sing in a choir until he was 17. The head of music at his school, and many of his music teachers, were composers, so he got the opportunity to sing and listen to contemporary music by adults in his life who provided a huge inspiration.

4. Michael moved to Manchester to study music at the age of 18. In one of his first ever lectures one of the professors asked, as a joke, if anyone didn't like Beethoven, and Michael put his hand up having struggled with one of the piano sonatas for his Grade 8. He became the class clown from that point onwards!

5. Michael had, and still has, a huge passion for musical theatre, especially the work of Stephen Sondheim. One of his earliest successes as a composer was a site-specific musical entitled Indigestion - set in a working restaurant. Audiences were invited to sit at large tables and share their food, engaging with strangers next to them. As the musical unfolds different diners reveal themselves to actually be performers, bursting into song to the unknowing audience members next to them. This work was performed in various restaurants across Manchester, at The Lowry in Salford, and then at Riverside Studios in London as part of the Tete a Tete festival.

6. Another one of Michael's earlier successes was a musical that took place on Manchester's tram network. There and Back Again was a story of an anniversary gone wrong in which a couple begin to fight, only to discover that one is proposing to the other at their destination tram stop in Salford. The massed choir and proposal at Media City UK tram stop felt so realistic that some members of the public thought it was a real and didn't know it was a musical!

7. After his undergraduate training, and a small hiatus pursuing other musical career options, Michael returned to study in Manchester, but this time at the Royal Northern College of Music under the tutelage of Adam Gorb and Gary Carpenter. Michael was made an associate of the college in 2023

8. Michael also works as a conductor, often conducting his own works. As well as studying conducting at the RNCM, he was one of the first recipients of Sing for Pleasure's Young Conductors Scholarship in 2013.

9. 2015 was a breakthrough year for the composer creating three new substantial works including an orchestral work for beginners instruments, the LSO, and Nicola Benedetti; a site-specific choral work for Salisbury Market Square for their international festival; and an actor-musician opera entitled Thousand Furs based on the Cinderella story. The Financial Times gave the work 5 stars and described his music as 'inventive'.

10. Michael is passionate about ensuring classical music and opera reaches the widest audiences, especially those communities who have faced the most barriers. Much of his output and work is created with and for these communities. In 2016 he set up The Sunday Boys - a low voiced, open access, LGBTQ+ choir that focuses on creating new music by queer artists for queer singers. They specialise in commissioning new work by queer artists for open access choirs and Michael has written numerous works including collaborations with writers such as Andrew McMillan. 

11. Michael is also passionate about music and opera that tells unhears stories. A lot of his work uses verbatim theatre techniques to work with stories of individuals and communities to bring them to life on stage like his 30 minute chamber opera Positive in 2016 based on interviews with a young man living with HIV.

12. He has spent a lot of time in Iceland - visiting nine times in total since 2016 - having created an interactive opera entitled #echochamber about online abuse against women. This work, which is in both English and Icelandic languages, was nominated for an Icelandic Music Award when it premiered in 2018. He's currently working on a new piece with the same team to premiere in 2025 subject to funding!

13. He has been twice nominated for a Royal Philharmonic Society Award in the Impact category. Once for a community opera for Cheltenham Music Festival called Across the Sky in 2020, and then for a digital opera co-created with people living with Tourettes Syndrome in 2022.

14. Next year, alongside Riders to the Sea and The Last Bit of the Moon, Michael's new children's opera The Vanishing Forest will tour to schools and venues across the country with English Touring Opera.

15. Michael currently lives in Marsden in West Yorkshire with his partner Ben, and two cats having moved there from Manchester after 18 years in the city. His music has often been described as industrial and urban, but more recently inspiration has been coming from the hills and greenery of the moors. Watch this space!

Composer Michael Betteridge has created a boldly reinvented version of Vaughan Williams ‘Riders To The Sea’ for chamber ensemble. If you would like to read 15 facts about Vaughan Williams click here.

‘Riders To The Sea’ will tour theatres across the UK in early 2025, for more information about this click here.