GERALD BARRY: THE INTELLIGENCE PARK

Dublin, 1753. A frustrated and impoverished opera composer’s work goes into a spin when he falls for his lead castrato – but then the castrato elopes with the composer’s rich fiancée, causing chaos and catastrophe all round.

Gerald Barry’s operas are like no other – daring, surreal, and often laugh-out-loud funny. The Intelligence Park exploded on to the stage in London in 1990, introducing a unique operatic voice to the world. Almost 30 years on, director/designer Nigel Lowery’s new, messed-up Baroque production rediscovers its zoo of emotions, characters and absurdities in a blurring of imagination and reality, as it explores notions of sexuality, creativity and obligation.

“One moment grotesquely funny; the next touchingly beautiful” The Guardian (CD review, 2005)

Gerald Barry composer 
Vincent Deane libretto 
Jessica Cottis conductor 
Tim Anderson assistant conductor (conducting Birmingham)
Nigel Lowery director & designer 

UK touring dates include Sherman Theatre, Cardiff; Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester; and the Birmingham Repertory Theatre.

A Music Theatre Wales and Royal Opera House co-production, in association with London Sinfonietta