Cocteau in the Underworld

A new opera by Ed Hughes with a libretto by Roger Morris

Director: John Lloyd Davies
Musical Director: David Angus

A new opera inspired by an imagined incident in the life of poet and film-maker Jean Cocteau. Cocteau dreams of the Underworld in order to recover a former lover from the Dead. Here he meets characters from his past and from his imagination. He is faced with a choice between love or creativity.

The development of this exciting new work is being supported by Opera Genesis, the contemporary opera development programme of ROH2 at the Royal Opera House.

Although completely self-contained and accessible as a stand-alone piece,
the opera could work well in the context or at the end of a study/feature
day on Cocteau's films, especially 'Blood of a Poet', 'Orphee' and
'Testament of Orpheus'. The opera draws subtly on some of Cocteau's rich
imagery, developed in this remarkable series of films, including mirrors as
a bridge to the dead/underworld, and the radio and telephone as a way of
dramatising the disembodied nature of the voice in the modern world. Such a
day or weekend could comprise screenings and talks on Cocteau's work,
perhaps including or concluding with a performance of the new opera.

Ed Hughes wrote the score to the film Battleship Potemkin which featured in sold-out concerts in the Hove Engineerium in 2005. His 2004 Brighton Festival score Memory of Colour was nominated for a British Academy of Composers award and transferred to the Sydney Festival. His recent film music score for Glyndebourne and Photoworks AUDITORIUM was also nominated for a British Academy of Composers award. He lectures in Music at Sussex University.

Roger Morris’s novels have been published by Macmillan and Faber and widely translated. His recent book A Vengeful Longing (Faber, 2008) was shortlisted for the CWA Duncan Lawrie Award.