The Opera People Presents: Dwarf - Alexander Zemlinsky's Der Zwerg

Following the success of 2018’s Love and Duty, The Opera People present Dwarf - Alexander Zemlinsky’s Der Zwerg in its Southeast Asian premiere. Based on a short story by Oscar Wilde, Zemlinsky’s searing exploration of self-loathing and unrequited love is transformed to shed light on the effects of social inequality in contemporary society. 

In an unnamed elite girls school where the wealthiest rule, the students are putting on a production of Wilde's The Infanta's Birthday. As a social experiment, they invite an unsuspecting actor from the poorest of society to play the dwarf. However, as the lines between performance and reality become blurred, he begins to understand his place in a society that will never accept him, with shattering consequences. 

Directed by Edith Podesta with music direction by Alvin Seville Arumugam, Dwarf features a stellar local cast of singers including David Charles Tay, Jonathan Charles Tay, Felicia Teo Kaixin, Cherie Tse, Ng Jingyun and Alvin Tan, accompanied by The Musicians' Initiative (formerly The Young Musicians' Foundation Orchestra). 

1 hr 20 mins (no intermission), performed in German with English surtitles

CAST
The Dwarf - David Charles Tay (12 July) /Jonathan Charles Tay (14 July)
Clara - Felicia Teo Kaixin
Ghita - Ng Jingyun (12 July) /Cherie Tse (14 July)
Estoban - Alvin Tan
1st Lady - Moira Loh
2nd Lady - Phoebe Chee
3rd Lady - Priscilla Fong 
1st Maiden - Kira Lim
2nd Maiden - Azura Farid

Ensemble: Lin Yuching, Cheyenne Tso, Chloe Ong, Nurulhuda Hassan, Kelly Sim & Nia Edwards