ENO Mini Operas
English National Opera – Writer In Residence
In 2012, ENO launched an online Mini Opera-Writing competition. I was commissioned to write 3 original demo libretti, based on seed stories provided by leading authors: What Dreams May Come (from Neil Gaiman’s ‘Sweeper of Dreams’), Facing the Truth (from ‘On Paper’ by A.L. Kennedy) and Publish And Be Damned (from ‘Death of a Government Inspector’ by Will Self). These scripts were posted online as examples for competition entrants to study. I then worked with ENO Baylis to shortlist, from 150 entries, the 10 winning scripts that went through to the composition round.
My scripts were set to music and made into films by leading industry practitioners to serve as demos for the composition and film-production stages of the competition: What Dreams May Come (composer: Sxip Sheary). Facing the Truth (composer: Bill Ryder) Publish And Be Damned (composer: Bishi Bhattacharya)