Stage: Nothing
An exciting new youth opera from Glyndebourne created by composer David Bruce and librettist Glyn Maxwell
Obviously best known for their acclaimed festival productions of both the classic and modern opera repertoire, over the years Glyndebourne have invested both time and money in creating excellent community and youth opera projects, many of which I have been privileged enough to see and hear.
But these are no school hall style affairs, far from it. The company invests much more than time and money, it invests top ranking talent and as a consequence the outcomes are rich and satisfying. This February sees the premiere of their latest youth production, Nothing, and it promises to be far more than the nothing of the title.
If someone you knew declared that life had no meaning, how would you convince them it does?
That’s the question a group of teenagers ask themselves. They decide that each of the group must give up an object that means something to them. This starts with toys and clothes, but things quickly escalate as the classmates go to ever more extreme lengths to try to persuade their friend there are things worth caring about.
In Nothing, members of Glyndebourne Youth Opera aged 14-19 perform alongside professional singers. It is the latest in a line of pioneering youth operas that have premiered on the main stage at Glyndebourne.
The opera has been adapted from Danish author Janne Teller’s award-winning novel by composer David Bruce and librettist Glyn Maxwell. Their popular adaptation of Philip Pullman’s The Firework Maker’s Daughter wowed audiences in the UK and New York.
Librettist Glyn Maxwell outlines the story: On the first day back at school one September, a boy called Pierre walks out of the class, climbs a plum tree, and declares that ‘nothing matters’. His classmates try without success to bring him down from the tree. Desperate to prove him wrong, they give up their childhood possessions to a bonfire, ‘a Pile of Meaning’, so their tears will prove things matter.
When this makes no impression on Pierre, they decide to force one another to give up whatever is most important to each of them. This starts with toys and clothes, but soon escalates monstrously: one girl’s hair – the national flag – the corpse of a pet – a figure of Jesus – until finally, with Pierre still claiming life is pointless – the children give up body and soul in a terrible spiral of sacrifice.
Finally Pierre comes to see the ‘Pile of Meaning’. He climbs it, crying out that life is beautiful – because it means nothing. In rage and regret the children set upon him. He is never seen again. Years later at Christmas, the children, now adults from all walks of life, gather by the plum tree to hang purple baubles on its branches, in recognition that whatever it was they went through together, the life and death of Pierre meant something, and cannot be forgotten.
Nothing is a story of lost childhood, the getting of wisdom, and the madness of crowds. The children are forced to confront the darkest answer to the question of existence, yet somehow find love and humanity in their responses. They absorb the horror of this communal experience, and move on through life, sadder and wiser, ever searching for truth and meaning.
We recommend this production for those aged 12 and over.
www.glyndebourne.com Performances take place 25-27 February 2016 on the main stage. Tickets £15 (£7 concessions*)
You can book online or contact our Box Office and Customer Service team on +44(0)1273 815 000 between 10am and 6pm, Mon-Fri.
