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We are delighted to announce that our latest commission, Sky in a Small Cage, will premiere at Copenhagen Opera Festival on 25 August 2024, followed by a performance at the Barbican, opening their new season in London on 8 September 2024. Booking for both performances will open on Friday 19 April.

Sky in a Small Cage is a poetic reflection on the life and works of Sufi poet, Rumi, evoking both intense anguish and profound joy. It focuses on his relationship with his master, muse and beloved, Shams who was (it is suspected) murdered at the hands of Rumi’s brothers. The story will be told with words written specifically by award-winning poet, Dante Micheaux together with translations of Rumi’s own poetry. A multi-disciplinary cast directed by our Artistic Director, Frederic Wake-Walker, will bring each tableau to life using song, musical interludes and dance. 

Our stellar cast - Yannis François, James Hall, Loré Lixenberg and Elaine Mitchener - will be joined onstage by six fiercely talented ensemble singers and the outstanding players of Riot Ensemble, directed by Aaron Holloway-Nahum. 

The performance itself will bring the players, singers and audience into dynamic and unconventional relationships across the space through movement, design, dance and other immersive elements (which are always an important consideration for Wake-Walker and Hind in their collaborative work) in order to capture the ecstasy and despair of Rumi’s life and poetry.

We are thrilled to welcome our six ensemble singers - Siddhii Lagrutta, Karima El Demerdasch, Anika Venkatesh, Rylan Gleave, Ty Bouque and Harald Hieronymous Hein - to the company. They were recruited in the autumn through a highly competitive open call.

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The commission is supported by generous funding from the Nicholas Berwin Charitable Trust, with additional production support from Cockayne - Grants for the Arts.