The first ever workshop production ran for one week in April 2005, at St Mary's in Euston,
You can download or stream live selections from this show here
Originally, the show had been conceived in 2004, and was about a circus freak show! The dummy lyrics used when creating the tunes began to suggest an entirely different story, and four very distinct characters. The first production featured both Jane Garratt and Gareth Bretherton, for whom two of the four roles were originally written. The other two roles were created by Jessica Negus and Alexander Albrecht.
After it had decided that the show was to be an opera and not a musical, it became clear that it should be an extreme tragedy, or 'tragique' - tragedy with its tongue in its cheek. The wife quickly became the most theatrical character, and thus the central focus of the show. Because her personality is so lunatic, the other three characters needed to be comparatively more pedestrian. To keep them dramatic, it was decided to distort the traditional theatrical archetypes. The Brit is the romantic lead male, but he is also a gay and murderous. The Turk is the 'baddie' because he's stringing along two women, but the audience are still encouraged to pity him and mourn his death. Scroll down further to see some pictures from this production!
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