Creative Team:  

Monika Dalach Sayers (Librettist)

Bahaa El-Ansary (Composer) 

Ashley Dean (Director) 

Dominic Wheeler (Conductor) 

 

In 2018, I was awarded the Guildhall Artist Fellowship and invited to participate in the MA in Opera Making & Writing at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, a programme delivered in association with the Royal Opera House in London. During the academic year 2018/2019 I was working under the mentorship of the Professor of Dramatic Writing, Dr Stephen Plaice, on the creation of a new chamber opera Blind written to music by composer, Bahaa El-Ansary. The core programme involved writers and composers working collaboratively to focus on how new opera is created, developed, and performed. During a year, we had the opportunity to understand how to pitch a new opera, take part in a series of production seminars, observe a contemporary opera in rehearsal at the Royal Opera House, and learn how to work effectively on storyline development. For me, writing libretto in English that is my secondary language, was a great opportunity for me to work on my language skills. This was a fascinating journey led by Professor Stephen Plaice which complements my earlier studies on Creative Writing at the University of Lodz. 

 

The programme is coordinated in close collaboration with the School’s award-winning Opera Department, its Production Arts Department and the Royal Opera House. 

 

About  BLIND 

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Blind takes its influences from symbolism, myths, and meanings hidden behind actions taking place while dreaming. In this piece, we focus on perceiving things much more intensely. This story explores the multi-sensory journey of experiencing things through the heightened sense of touch, taste, and smell, captured in the form of the opera. 

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The Pitch: 

"Dreaming about losing your eyesight indicates the loss of your intuition and logical thinking and may be a message to pay attention to something we might be overlooking; It may also indicate repressing your inner desires. "

 

The Girl wakes up from a coma and realises that one of her senses has stopped working. A mysterious figure is accompanying her awakening, a mirror image of her inner self, her Alter-ego. 

 

World Premiere: 3-8 July 2019, Milton Court Studio Theatre 

Performed by singers from the Guildhall Opera Course with a small orchestral ensemble, linked by scenes from operas including Ariadne auf Naxos, Die Fledermaus, and Hamlet accompanied by piano.