Space Encounters Opera Takes Off For Queensland Schools
Opera Queensland’s chamber opera Space Encountersfor young audiences Prep to Year 7, entered its second year of touring on July 18. Space Encounters will be staged in 70 schools throughout the Brisbane metropolitan area, the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, South West Queensland and the New South Wales border region before ending its tour on November 11.
Space Encounters was created by Brisbane-based composer and conductor Sean O’Boyle and renowned film and television writer, actor and director Ian McFadyen, making its debut in 2010 when it was presented to some 13,000 students in 34 schools across South East Queensland.
Space Encounters tells the story of two astronauts, Harris and Jefferson, who, in response to a strange signal, set off to an unknown planet with expectations of finding a world of new and exciting life forms. Instead, they encounter a solitary alien, Zolo, who sneers at the idea of searching for intelligent life in the universe, declaring that he just wants to be left alone. Zolo’s antisocial behavior infuriates Jefferson who is happy to take off leaving the cantankerous alien behind. But Harris wants to stay, suspecting Zolo’s rudeness is just a front to hide his loneliness, and what he really longs for is a friend.
Directed by Andrew Cory, with set and costume designs by Simone Romaniuk, Space Encounters is a 50-minute fully- staged opera featuring three artists performing to live piano accompaniment. The cast consists of soprano Jill Carter and mezzo-soprano Louise Dorsman as the astronauts Harris and Jefferson respectively, baritone Darian Johns as the alien Zolo and pianist Brendan Murtagh as the robot Roland. At the conclusion of the performance, students participate in a 10-minute Question and Answer session with the artists. Through music and voice, the production offers young audiences a fantastic introduction to opera and theatrical storytelling.
Space Encounters is an excellent teaching tool allowing students to explore opera as a narrative. Issues raised in the work deal with identity, self-image, isolation and relationships. The Performance Notes provided to teachers identify relevant Ways of Working and Essential Learnings from the Queensland English and Arts curriculum documents, with suggested links to the Science and SOSE (Studies of Society and Environment) curriculum for students in Prep to Year 7.
http://www.operaqueensland.com.au/education/index.html
Image: Jill Carter as Harris, Darian Johns as Zolo and Louise Dorsman as Jefferson.