by Ed Hughes, libretto by Roger Morris

A new opera about the poet, filmmaker, artist, novelist and opium addict Jean Cocteau, drawing on incidents from his life and themes from his work to create a compelling dramatic experience.

Cocteau is finding it hard to begin work on a new project. His creative block seems to stem from his grief – and guilt – over the death of a young lover. He is visited by a glamorous stranger who somehow knows the secrets of Cocteau’s past and holds the key to his future. She has the power to unlock his creativity, but first he must accept her potent magical gift – a gift that will enable him to follow in Orpheus’s footsteps and cross the boundary to another world in order to confront his dead lover. At the same time he must make a character-defining choice between creativity and love.

Developed with the assistance and support of ROH2’s Opera Genesis programme, extracts of Cocteau in the Underworld were performed as part of the 2009 Brighton Festival with a limited scoring of piano and electronics. This latest staged segment using the same instrumentation features a new projected video sequence devised by Metta Theatre’s Poppy Burton-Morgan and William Reynolds.

Exposure | Linbury Studio Theatre | Royal Opera House | April 14th and 16th 2010, 8pm

Director | John Lloyd Davies

Video | Poppy Burton-Morgan and William Reynolds for Metta Theatre

The piece will be presented in full as a work-in-progress showing at Grimeborn Festival, Arcola Theatre, this August by Metta Theatre, further exploring the use of film to create an inter-disciplinary work of live and pre-recorded video and opera. Live characters who inhabit the space interact with visually pre-recorded (but live sung) characters who physically break through into the live space.

Grimeborn Festival Arcola Theatre | August 20th and 21st 2010, 8pm

Director | Poppy Burton-Morgan

Designer | William Reynolds

The full version of the work will be scored for a cast of five (Soprano: Eurydice; Mezzo: Princess Death; Counter-tenor: Raymond Radiguet; Tenor: Orpheus; Baritone: Cocteau) with a projected ensemble of nine players plus electronics. A touring production of the full work is planned for Autumn 2011.