History of the Present is a new experimental opera-film forefronting working-class women’s voices to ask: who has the right to speak, and in what way?
Layering sociological, cultural, and political themes from the recent history of Northern Ireland, the work exercises voice, breath and field-recording composition through a range of film techniques and operatic articulations, towards an amplification of marginalised stories. Made on 35mm and SD video in the streets of Belfast, the Royal Opera House and the Ulster Museum, History of the Present observes how defensive architecture defines movement to enforce intersectional histories and identities within daily experiences in conflict and post-conflict zones.
Creative team and cast:
Librettist – Maria Fusco
Composer – Annea Lockwood
Singer and Improviser – Héloïse Werner
Co-directors – Maria Fusco & Margaret Salmon
Dramaturg – Jude Christian
