Cockpit theatre for Tete a Tete festival

Chorus of Curious eyes zoomed in from living rooms around the country.

Concept, Libretto & dir: Tania Holland Williams

Composition: Gavin Alexander, Anna Braithwaite, Kevin Grist

Designer & Costume maker: Sarah Jane Booth

Photos by Claire Shovelton and Sarah Jane Booth

Persephone’s Dream is a digital/live hybrid opera that tells a story of withdrawal from the world. Unpicking the rites of hibernation and exploring whether, in our waking sleep, we can still yearn, struggle, resist – be human.

Through the central figure of a biodegradable Persephone and a 2D virtual chorus of curious eyes, the piece explores the purifying power and danger of isolation. It interrogates the threshold between suspension and action, the real and the imagined and asks if the dream is good – why wake?

With costume, set, and Zoom background design from Sarah Jane Booth, the piece had a fully realized aesthetic.

very thoughtfully done and was the successful culmination of many people coming together to create something that made meaning of our current situation and gave cause for some much-needed sharing and reflection.

Alessia Naccarato - Schmopera.com

Persephone spends most of her time winding and unwinding herself in her remarkable costume, which includes a chess set attached to the front of it. In fact, it’s not so much a costume as a set design. (Kudos to Sarah Jane Booth, in charge of both costume, stage and digital design.)

Dominica Plummer- Spy in the Stalls

Persephone wears a quilted blanket dress which drapes over her lap down to the floor like the softest cloud. Her torso is a chessboard, the squares marking out the belly. These costumes allow for excellent shapes of the body stranded in space.

George Collins- A younger Theatre

I have to mention how much I loved seeing monstrous Cerberus, reduced to a benign soft toy, keeping watch over proceedings, a really nice touch.

Caroline Strong- Actress/poet