Applied Theatre students perform in 'Dialogues des Carmelites' at the Royal Opera House
From May 29 to 7 June, Central’s MA Applied Theatre students performed in Dialogues Des Carmelites at The Royal Opera House. The students formed a part of the 67 person community ensemble of actors who were recruited through charities and partnership organisations including Streetwise Opera, Synergy Theatre Project and the Department of Work and Pensions, to work alongside the artists, chorus and orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Royal Opera House staff and the Production Team. Many of the participants had experience of homelessness, the criminal justice system and long-term unemployment and, through the Royal Opera House’s participatory work, were given the chance to increase their self-esteem and self-confidence and to build on life skills such as teamwork and communication.
Robert Carsen’s production, conducted by Simon Rattle and set in a Carmelite monastery during the French Revolution, largely dispensed with conventional set pieces and relied instead on the use of the crowd of community ensemble members to create the piece’s sense of geography and flow.
Dialogues Des Carmelites received excellent press coverage and reviews throughout its run.