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FULL ANON (Errollyn Wallen) London 2014 Joanna Foote, Sara Lian Owen, Claire Wild
Information on the Performance
- Work Title: ANON
- Composer: Wallen Errollyn
- Libretto: Errollyn Wallen Libretto Text, Libretto Index
- Venue & Opera Company: Platform Theatre Central Saint Martins, London, UK, Welsh National Opera
- Recorded: July 26 & 27, 2014
- Type: Staged Opera Live
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE
About
“I am committed to telling the stories of our time and ANON, my twelfth opera is no exception to that mission. Many of the stories I have set have been in order to give voice to those peoplewhose stories have previously gone untold. However, when I was asked by Welsh National Opera to compose an opera for young people on the theme of the exploitation of young women across the world – based on the Abbé Prévost novel, Manon Lescaut
– I was, at first, reluctant. In the novel, on which so many operas have been based, Manon has no voice – she is an object of desire, appearing to have few thoughts or feelings of her own.
After leading workshops with young girls from many different cultural backgrounds and exploring with them the themes of Manon Lescaut – young love, running away, the defiance of parental and social pressure, taking a wrong step and unwittingly falling into danger – I got excited about how I could adapt and contemporise the story. My thanks are forever extended to those girls from the RSA Academy (Tipton, Birmingham) and Newman University (Bartley Green, Birmingham). Later on, having finished the first draft of the script, I also interviewed sex workers, who were able to elucidate and enlighten me as to aspects of the story.
ANON is made up of several short scenes where the audience is encouraged to consider the situation rather than the precise identity of the protagonists (who are simply called Girl 1, Girl 2 and Girl 3, Actor 1 and Actor 2), hence the title of the opera. We all could find ourselves in any of the situations depicted. Furthermore, although it is possible to trace a narrative through-‐line, this too is deliberately disrupted and made opaque.
ANON is for three sopranos and two female actors. The scoring is for piano/keyboards, cello and percussion”.
Errollyn Wallen