NEWFLASH! The name of the show has been changed to "The United Kingdom of Earth: A Brexit Opera", from its original title "That Happy Breed".
Raising money for the UK premiere of "The United Kingdom of Earth", a Brexit Opera. Performed by a cast of 20 local people everywhere it goes, "The United Kingdom of Earth" receives its London premiere on July 26th 2017, at Tête à Tête: The Opera Festival.
Around five years after departing the European Union, Britain finds itself alone in a world otherwise scorched by some massive nuclear misunderstanding. "The United Kingdom of Earth" uses song, speech and music to paint a picture of a completely isolated Britain, what lies therein, and what lurks beneath.
The aim of "The United Kingdom of Earth" is not to please anyone on either side of the Brexit argument, but rather to question and poke fun at ourselves, our values, and our history. At times like this, provocative art has the capacity to unite people!
We are crowdfunding the budget for this UK premiere. The show, originally a production of the Worm Avant-Garde Institute in Rotterdam, premiered at their Ubik Theatre last November. The London performance will be the first UK show, after a performance at Glasgow's CCA had to be postponed due to funding difficulties.
We are looking for a budget of £3000 to cover travelcosts, accommodation, production costs, and marketing for the London premiere.
A note on opera. Opera = a new kind of performing art where music tells a story in combination with text, sung, spoken,
shouted, or screamed, and all the digital tools at our disposal. Opera is available to anyone with an imagination, a computer, and some friends.
AND if you can't support this feast financially, you can join THE FUN. At time of writing about half of the roles in this UK premiere have been cast, so we're still on the lookout for happy breeders. No experience necessary. You can sing, dance, act, or not, either way you are guaranteed THE FUN. Roles still looking to be cast include a screaming, blinded Nigel Farage atop a mountain, a futuristic undercover agent from a very illicit organisation, a politician of your choice, the father and mother of an everyday British family, and THE DOG. There are more, but there's time to chat about them.
About the artist. Over the past 20 years Dominic Robertson has carved a unique place in the cultural landscape. Releasing a body of work in excess of 300 hours over albums, radioplays, opera, theatre, installation, electronic music, and collage, his work has been presented around the world to widespread acclaim. This has including the Tate Modern, the Royal Festival Hall, BBC Radio 3, BBC 6Music, Bayerischer Rundfunk, WDR, Deutschlandradiokultur, the Worm Avant-Garde Institute, De Player, and Channel 4.
"He's like the Grandma gobbling wolf in Little Red Riding Hood, swallowing down the entire world, all the better to heave it back up in your face" - The Wire
“A burst of colour, noise and imagination...I would be slightly disappointed if you had witnessed anything like it before” - The New Statesman
"Maverick composer" - The Wire
"A truly English original who we should cherish deeply" - Sound Projector
“Mad but mesmerising” - The Times
"Sounds like Vivian Stanshall, Syd Barratt and Dali making merry" - Mojo Magazine
"The musical man of the moment" - The Times
"Eccentric, boundary testing, ridiculously different...In some ways you could say he is the complete artist...” - The Kaje
"Bloody marvellous" - Clash Magazine
"Goes to show how major record companies have lost touch completely" - Pennyblack Music
“We can't decide whether he's the new Viv Stanshall, a young Eno, a British Zappa, or a replacement for Frank Sidebottom" - The Guardian
"An ear practised in making the magical brush shoulders with the mundane" - Drowned In Sound
"One man movement" - The Wire
"The Emperor of Music!" - Tom Ravenscroft
"One of the most inventive composers around...a musical equivalent to Chris Morris" - BBC Radio 3, Mixing It