A community beach opera: new genres, new places, new faces
The inaugral Lowestoft First Light Festival on Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd June was a 24 hour multi-arts festival created by Flipside. It celebrated the summer solstice, with 24 hours of performances on Lowestoft beach. Group A were honoured to be invited to close the Festival, giving the final performance that ended at midday on 23rd June. Our performance brought together over 50 young people from Ipswich and Lowestoft.
Aga Serugo-Lugo, Group A's artistic director, saw the Festival as the perfect opportunity to challenge our young people to explore a new genre, Opera! In this case....'Beach Opera'! Based upon Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea, he wrote a 30 minute 'community beach opera' for Group A to perform. Members of the Lowestoft community contributed ideas and motifs that were incorporated into the piece, including their hopes and fears for the future of the town. The music was ambitious, challenging Group A to learn and remember more than they ever have before. Many of the participants performed with a live orchestra and a professional opera singer for the first time and they needed to remember staging cues and manage their props (supported and made by Suffolk Libraries). The final part of the opera involved the groups coming down from the stage and processing a giant fish skeleton to the seafront. The chorale they sang was beautiful and with the audience following us, Group A created a truly magical moment that we will never forget!
For many of Group A, the performance not only offered new musical experiences, but a chance to make new friendships with young people from different towns. Many Ipswich participants do not often get the chance to go to the beach and performing on a beach was a new experience for nearly all 50 participants. Parents who came to support the weekend were amazed at quality of what their young people achieved and went home very proud too.
Most of all, the performance highlighted the importance of Group A performing in their own community, at a performance platform that celebrates their community. The Festival was something all young people and Lowestoft should feel very proud of and we can't wait to take part again next time.
