New Streetwise Opera production at British Film Institute
Streetwise Opera, a charity that uses music as a tool to help homeless people move forward in their lives, presented its latest production, ‘The Answer to Everything’, at the British Film Institute.
A 70-minute interactive film and live opera event, the production features 30 homeless and ex-homeless performers. The action is set in a conference run by fictional property developer, Locateco Solutions. Delegates are united at first and corporate confidence appears high, but as music gradually engulfs the business rhetoric, they begin to question whether their radical re-homing solution is really ‘the answer to everything’. The performers invite the audience to take part as conference delegates, issuing lanyards and conference packs, and even getting them to join in with the Company Anthem.
For the occasion, film director Rupert Jones, opera director Emma Bernard and film producer Jess Gormley brought together Streetwise’s performers with renowned soprano Elizabeth Watts. The production includes pieces by Britten, Handel and Vivaldi alongside new commissions by some of the most exciting British composers: Gavin Bryars, Orlando Gough, Emily Hall, Anna Meredith and Duncan Ward. Emily Hall and Anna Meredith are both recipients of the PHF Award for Composers.
The PHF Arts programme supports Streetwise Opera through its Open Grants scheme and the Breakthrough Fund Special Initiative, which supports the CEO, Matt Peacock. The Breakthrough Fund was created to help cultural entrepreneurs, at critical points in their development, make a crucial difference in their organisations and the fields in which they work. ‘The Answer to Everything’ represents the culmination of Peacock’s work at Streetwise Opera.
