My creative tasks took a backseat last week as I prepared for a bumper workload coming up at the end of this month, so I thought I'd share my concept for Offenbach's 'Die Rheinnixen,' an incredibly exciting 19th century opera.

When I was reading the plot summary, I literally gasped out loud. I kept saying “that’s amazing” and “that’s incredible” because it’s such a dynamic story. Telling the story of a rural community under the shadow of war, the theme of oppression stood out to me, particularly as it relates to both sacrifice and resilience. On large and small scales, most characters have to sacrifice things in order to survive: love, security, dignity and more. I think this could spark some really interesting conversations about where our personal limits lie and how much we can tolerate before we must resist.

There is a great tradition on theatre of using temporal or geographical distance to help an audience consider the relevance of story to their own societies. In this case, I think setting the story amongst the resistance movements of the Second World War will reinforce the dangers of oppressive politics, currently on the rise once again.

Some key theatrical references include Brecht’s Mother Courage, her resilience speaking clearly to the character of Hedwig. Armgard makes me think of Liesl in The Sound of Music, and the emotional impact she feels watching Rolf change into an agent of fascism.

There is a violence to this story that shouldn’t be understated. That violence seeps through in acts of war, in the struggle to survive, in the abandonment of Hedwig, the capture of Gottfried, and the interrogations in the final act. I want this to be viscerally felt by the audience and powerfully presented in the staging. Working with such intense emotional themes requires operating with sensitivity and care for the whole team, including cast, orchestra and creative and production.

The description of the fairies immediately reminded me of the Wilis in Giselle, with their ethereal fury and subversive vengeance. One of the joys of this story is how it combines fantasy elements and political commentary, once again using distance for impact. I also enjoy different eras and visual aesthetics in tandem to disrupt the audience's expectations.

This autumn, Gothic Opera will present the first fully staged performance of Die Rheinnixen in the UK and I'm excited to see it come to life!