PURGATORY
"Before my son I stand, holding the knife used to kill my father"
Welcome to PURGATORY, an Immersive Operatic Experience.
Composer Gordon Crosse’s setting of the text by literary giant W.B. Yeats will have you trembling in your seats. Walk into an old Peranakan house and witness one family's tragedy guided by the spirits trapped between worlds. Is the house haunted? Is the family cursed? This Halloween, L'arietta Productions bring you a hair-raising unforgettable multidisciplinary experience.
Written in 1966 by British composer Gordon Crosse, the opera utilizes Yeats' original text in its entirety. Directed by theatre veteran Eleanor Tan, this production will depart from its original Irish setting to an old Peranakan household filled with matriarchs of the past. On the anniversary of the mother's wedding night, remorseful spirits of the Old Man's parents appear in the house where unspeakable horror unfolded when he was 16 years old. He brings his son to the ruined house and reveals the darkness that haunts this family; the drunken father, the mother who died giving birth, and the Old Man who stabbed his own father... Now the Boy is the same age as he was when the curse was set. What grim choices face this family? Will there be redemption for the dead and the living?
Purgatory will be Singapore’s first immersive experiential opera, where live painting, devised theatre, poetry, visual art, and opera will merge for an hour of macabre spectacle. This production is a proud in-conjunction event with the Singapore Writers Festival, celebrating SWF’s country focus: Ireland. More information at www.lariettasg.com
Director: Eleanor Tan
Music Director: Aloysius Foong
Set Designer: Grace Lin
Set Consultant: Eucien Chia
Lighting Artist: Eugene Soh
Visual Artist: Namiko Chan
Boy: Peter Ong
Old man: Reuben Lai
Female Spirits: Ethel Yap, Ava Madon, Melissa Gan, Venytha Yoshiantini, Patricia Ginting, and Inch Chua
DATE/TIMES
FRI 27 October: 8pm
SAT 28 October: 3:30pm & 8pm
SUN 29 October: 3:30pm
TUES 31 October: 8pm
FRI 3 November: 8pm
SAT 4 November: 3:30pm & 8pm
SUN 5 November: 3:30pm
TICKETS
Standard $40
Full-Time Student $34 (Must present valid ID at the door)
VENUE
Theatre Practice Black Box
54 Waterloo Street
SG 187953
ABOUT L'ARIETTA PRODUCTIONS
Incorporated in 2015, L’arietta Productions produce high quality bite-sized operas in English that are cozy, entertaining, and relevant. Collaborating with award winning visual artists such as Namiko Chan, Wan Xiang Lee, Young Artist Award recipient composer Chen Zhangyi, and award winning poet, Aaron Lee; Straits Times regards L’arietta’s approach “vital in conveying the message that modern opera could be unstuffy, accessible and even fun.” More at www.lariettasg.com