Who needs Community Opera? – Community Arts in Practice

‘Let’s take over a whole town!’ I suggested to Glyndebourne in 1988. ‘Everyone can be in an opera.’

I have been writing community operas for thirty years. At first, it was co-creation, shared with hundreds and hundreds of people. Eventually it led to an ambitious attempt at a networked performance of a community opera on three continents. Along the way, my ideas of authorship and ownership have evolved, and my sense of what is useful.

We were considering ideas for outreach projects. I was not without megalomania. I had been inspired by working for Opera North on a community production of West Side Story with a huge cast of 200 amateurs, in a disused cotton mill in Bradford. The sense of audience involvement in the promenade performance, and the hunger of the participants for this experience, opened a door in my mind.

The full article (in three parts) can be found at the links below

• www.traction-project.eu/who-needs-community-opera-part-one-lets-take-over-a-whole-town/
• www.traction-project.eu/who-needs-community-opera-part-two-telling-a-universal-story/
• www.traction-project.eu/who-needs-community-opera-part-three-it-could-be-a-model-of-international-collaboration/