Melanie Wilson's OPERA FOR THE UNKNOWN WOMAN Set for UK Tour

Award winning sound artist Melanie Wilson is collaborating with Fuel, one of the UK's leading theatre producers, on a bold new eco-feminist work that re-imagines the operatic form. Called OPERA FOR THE UNKNOWN WOMAN, the production is commissioned by Wales Millennium Centre for the inaugural Festival of Voice and Yorkshire Festival 2016 in association with Warwick Arts Centre. Press Night at Festival of Voice: Thursday 9th June, Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff at 8.30pm.

Melanie Wilson is a London based theatre maker whose work combines sound and language to create powerful, poetic performances. Her work employs theatre, sound art and contemporary forms of composition, and she has collaborated with artists and companies across forms of theatre, film, music, installation, fine art and photography.

Set 300 years in the future, her newest work, OPERA FOR THE UNKNOWN WOMAN pictures a world in which economies have failed and the remaining human vestiges of Earth are scattered, defenseless and pursued by flood and famine. Aphra, the last hope for life has two weeks to live. In 2016 a group of women from around the world are drawn together by an unearthly power, to forge a future for their planet. Can their mission alter Earth's course and save Aphra?

Written, directed and co-composed by Melanie Wilson, with critically acclaimed Polish composer Katarina Glowicka; OPERA FOR THE UNKNOWN WOMAN weaves together theatre, contemporary classical music, electronics and film in an epic science fiction opera.

Passionately political this science fiction dream of the Earth in the 21st and 24th centuries examines climate change and the power of the stewardship of women. Challenging the conventions of opera, the all-female ensemble, which includes Patricia Rozario OBE and Adey Grummet (Jerry Springer: The Opera and Mr Burns), are joined on stage by musicians and a conductor. The women are immersed in a world of film and projection, which seamlessly integrates with a powerful score and sculptural choreography to build a vision of the worlds in which they live.

Melanie Wilson commented on the piece: "OPERA FOR THE UNKNOWN WOMAN is a hopeful celebration of what it is to be female. We tell the story of how women think together, and how powerful and world-defining they can be when loosed upon the hard problem of climate stability and human change. Using science fiction as a frame, our opera brings together a group of women from present day Earth, who are drawn to one another by a mysterious power to forge a future for their planet. As the story unfolds, we witness their mission to divert the extinction of human life. OPERA FOR THE UNKNOWN WOMAN does not offer a solution to the climate change issues we face but encourages us to question what small changes we can make to initiate wider change. It's about taking charge of our own destiny, accepting responsibility for our actions and inspiring a change in social attitudes by personalising the worldwide issue we face."

Louise Blackwell, co-founder and director of Fuel said of Melanie Wilson: "Melanie is one of the most talented and exciting artists we've ever had the pleasure to work with. We have worked with her since 2004 and this is the fifth and largest project we have produced with Melanie during that time. She has a unique view on the world and her storytelling through sound is unrivalled. We have no doubt that the world created by Melanie and the award winning creative team, will offer audiences the most profound vision of the Earth, that will prompt questions, stir the imagination, challenge indifferences and provoke an emotional reaction."

OPERA FOR THE UNKNOWN WOMAN previews at Warwick Arts Centre from Wednesday 25 - Thursday 26 May 2016 before premiering at Wales Millennium Centre on Wednesday 08 June, running until Saturday 12 for Festival of the Voice. The production then heads to London at The Platform Theatre from Thursday 16 - Friday 17 June and then north to Lawrence Batley Theatre, Huddersfield where it runs from Wednesday 22 - Friday 24 June 2016 for the Yorkshire Festival.

The Yorkshire Festival is the UK's newest international festival. It will build on the resounding success of the first edition in 2014 and promises world premieres and UK exclusives with spectacular outdoor performances as well as music, theatre, arts and dance from theatres to clubs.

This science fiction, multi-media opera channels a performance of vivid imagination and passionate politics into an exhilarating call to action. It is one not to be missed.

For more information, visit www.fueltheatre.com or www.melaniewilson.org.uk.

OPERA FOR THE UNKNOWN WOMAN is commissioned by Wales Millennium Centre for Festival of Voice and Yorkshire Festival in association with Warwick Arts Centre. Funded by Arts Council England & Arts Council Wales. Supported by the Fidelio Trust and Hinrichsen Foundation and in Wales, The Colwinston Trust. Development commissioned by Warwick Arts Centre and funded by Arts Council England & PRSF for Music Foundation. Developed in association with Opera North Projects.

Melanie Wilson is a theatre maker whose work combines sound and language to create powerful, poetic performances. Her work employs theatre, sound art and contemporary forms of composition.

As a writer, performer and sound artist she has collaborated with artists and companies across forms of theatre, film, music, installation, fine art and photography.

Since 2007 she has been making and performing in her own work including; Landscape II, Dublin Fringe Festival 2013, U.K touring; Autobiographer, London, Dublin Fringe Festival 2011, U.K touring, (winner Off West End Award for Best Sound Design 2012); Iris Brunette, UK and International touring (winner Best Production at Dublin Fringe Festival 2009) all produced by UK producers, Fuel; The View From Here, an audio performance commissioned by BAC for the One on One Festival 2010; The Philosopher of Furniture, BAC commission for Masque of the Red Death by Punchdrunk and Simple Girl, London, Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2007, Dublin Fringe Festivals 2007 (nominated Best Actress and Spirit of the Fringe Award).

Her work has been presented in the U.K and internationally, featuring in the sound design for the multi-media work of director Katie Mitchell, most recently for Cleansed at National Theatre, UK and Reise Durch die Nacht (2012) at Schauspeilhaus, Cologne; Die Gelbe Tapete, Schaubu?hne, Berlin, A Sorrow Beyond Dreams, Berg Theatre, Vienna, The Forbidden Zone, Salzburg Festival, Reisende auf Einem Bein, DeutschesSchauspeilhaus, Hamburg.

Founded in 2004, and led by Louise Blackwell and Kate McGrath, Fuel is a producing organisation working in partnership with some of the most exciting artists in the UK to develop, create and present new work for all.

Fuel works with artists to make fresh experiences for adventurous people. To date, many of these experiences have been theatre, whether that's in an actual theatre, on the streets, or in purpose-built structures. All of the artists Fuel works with produce shows, performances or experiences, which have very clear, direct and playful relationships with their audiences. They appeal to the emotions and the intellect. Things that make you laugh and cry. These artists see the world in a different way; they respond to challenges and difficulties with ingenuity and ideas; they create something unexpected which articulates something to its audience.

Festival of Voice is the first major UK celebration of the voice in all art forms. A city-wide celebration of Wales in Cardiff as the Land of Song - this new international arts festival features local and international legends, alongside classical and contemporary superstars and the vibrant energy of cutting-edge and emerging artists. Created and produced by Wales Millennium Centre, the festival will take place in venues all over Cardiff from 3 - 12 June 2016, for 10 days of inspiring performances, new works and UK exclusives.

Yorkshire Festival 2016 runs from June 16 - 3 July with preview events around the Tour de Yorkshire weekend at the end of April. Yorkshire Festival is backed by Welcome to Yorkshire with government funding through the Arts Council England as part of the Northern Powerhouse initiative. Yorkshire Festival will present hundreds of performances all over the county.

ABOUT THE CAST/CREATIVE TEAM:

Written, directed and co-composed by Melanie Wilson
Co-composed by Katarina Glowicka
Projection design by Will Duke
Conducted by Karin Hendrickson

Set and costume design by Fly Davis
Lighting design by Kristina Hjelm
Movement direction by Carolina Valdes

Produced by Fuel

Cast: Adey Grummet, Patricia Rozario, Peyee Chen, Claire Shahmoon, Eugenia Georgieva, Kate Huggett, Abigail Kelly, Alexia Macintosh, Calie Hough, Miriam Gould and Sophie Gledhill.

IF YOU GO:

Wed 25 - Thu 26 May (previews) | 7.45pm
Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry | 024 7652 4524 | warwickartscentre.co.uk

Wed 8 - Sat 12 June | 8.30pm 8 - 11 June | 4.30pm 10 - 12 June
Wales Millennium Centre as part of Festival of Voice, Cardiff | 029 2063 6464 | wmc.org.uk

Thu 16 - Fri 17 June | 8.00pm
The Platform Theatre, Central St Martins London platformboxoffice@arts.ac.uk | platform-theatre.com

Wed 22 - Fri 24 June | 7.30pm
Lawrence Batley Theatre, Huddersfield as part of Yorkshire Festival |01484 430528 | thelbt.org

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