Toujours et Prés de Moi

(2012)

A holographic puppet opera, this visually haunting work tells a touching, fractured tale of absence and regret through moving music, startling images and visual wonder.

The piece uses a 19th-century theatrical illusion called a Pepper’s Ghost to project puppet-sized holograms of human figures onto a tabletop stage. Two live performers interact with these ghostly “puppets” by moving objects about the stage to construct environments for these spectral images to inhabit.

Designed to be performed with five unaccompanied classical singers, the piece is set to a score of Renaissance madrigals by Carlo Gesualdo, as well as contemporary vocal pieces by Salvatore Sciarrino, Christopher Fox and James Weeks. First performed at The Print Room, London, in May 2012. Performed with live singers from EXAUDI, at the Spitalfields Winter Festival 2012, and revived at the 2018 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

TimeOut London Top 5 Classical Events of 2012

“A séance without hokum, superbly engineered” – Richard Morrison, The Times

Upcoming performances:
19 May 2019, 7pm & 10pm — Operadagen, Rotterdam