Keep up to date with Skellig news
On this page you will find news stories, blog entries and downloadable Skellig resources. With so much going on, we will be updating regularly so check back often for the very latest Skellig news!
On this page you will find news stories, blog entries and downloadable Skellig resources. With so much going on, we will be updating regularly so check back often for the very latest Skellig news!
They came, they saw...and they loved it! Audiences and critics alike have been delighted by Skellig, as the first press reviews confirm:
The Independent (Lynne Walker. Star Rating: 5*)
The Herald (Keith Bruce, Arts Editor. Star Rating: 5*)
The Times (Richard Morrison. Star Rating: 4*)
The Guardian (Alfred Hickling. Star Rating: 4*)
The Daily Telegraph (Rupert Christiansen)
The Journal (David Whetstone)
Photo Credit: Dan Brady
You can read more about the highly anticipated opera version of Skellig, including interviews with Tod Machover and David Almond, by following the links below:
Skellig the opera prepares to soar (The Herald)
Angel of the North (The Guardian)
Skellig takes wings as an opera (The Journal)
A world first for Gateshead (The Journal)
Singing Skellig (Culture magazine)
David Almond feature (The Telegraph)
You can watch a sneak preview of the performance and hear interviews from Tod Machover, David Almond and members of the chorus on the BBC website.
Classic tale made into opera: www.bbc.co.uk which will be broadcast on Look North on Monday 24th November 2008.
You can also listen to BBC Radio 4's Front Row programme (Listen again - Friday 21st November 2008 starting at 24.48 minutes into the programme) to hear a preview of Tod Machover's magical score and interview with Michael Rosen.
Image credited to Tod Machover.
Can't wait until the first performance to listen to the Skellig cast's operatic talents and the stunning score? Neither could we! Click below for two beautiful excerpts from the Skellig rehearsals, with thanks to composer Tod Machover.
Skellig clip 1 - 'Joy'
Skellig clip 2 - 'Michael's Dream' ('Listen' and 'Hush')
Images credited to Tod Machover. Don't forget you can upload your own Skellig wing photos to our Flickr page!
Being off-site at a unit in Byker, you often don’t see or hear much from the Northern Stage workshops team, but they're the people behind all the fantastic sets you'll see in shows. This year they were commissioned to build the set for The Sage Gateshead’s new opera adaptation of David Almond’s Skellig.
Working from original designs and model boxes by Rae Smith, Northern Stage’s Production Manager Chris Slater met with Simon Curtis, production manager for the Royal Exchange, and Chris Durant, The Sage Gateshead's Head of Technical Operations. Over the next few days, Mike Whymark, Head of Workshops at Northern Stage, undertook a site visit to The Sage Gateshead and subsequently produced some working construction drawings, with rough estimates of materials, costs and timescale.
The materials used varied from a steel box section to assorted fabrics. The main part of the set features an enormous tree lying on its side; this unique, elaborate and large piece was constructed by freelance set builder Chris Coles. Overall, the whole set took just over six weeks to build.
Northern Stage is proud to be able to offer this service to other organisations and individuals and is delighted to have been asked to construct the set for Skellig. Such a large and elaborate design is an enjoyable challenge for Northern Stage and the team can’t wait to see the set in use.
Workshop staff are now busy creating giant Christmas swags and sweeties to turn Northern Stage into a giant gingerbread house for a brand new adaptation of Hansel & Gretel this festive season. To find out more about Northern Stage visit the website.
Rehearsals for Skellig are now underway!
Director Braham Murray set the tone on day one when he told the gathered cast and creative team "Working at The Sage Gateshead, a new and exciting building, gives us the chance to do things in a new and exciting way – we’re not tied to convention... we’re gonna have a lot of fun!"
The Youth Chorus members join the rest of the ensemble this week, and will be writing a blog where you can hear all about the rehearsal process first hand.
Author and librettist David Almond explains the appeal of the story and why the time is right for this new opera version, “Skellig has now been translated into 33 different languages worldwide, it is local yet universal, encompassing all of human life. But it’s still a story rooted in the North East and this feels like a home-coming. It’s been a long journey, but has felt right from the very beginning. Skellig is a story of transformation, and the story has transformed itself into this new opera version.”
Composer Tod Machover sums up why the story works so well as an opera, “Each project has its own story – this [Skellig] has been a joy to put together. Music and sounds are already present in the book, so it lends itself well to this form [opera]. There is nothing more wonderful than coming here [to Gateshead] and hearing the music come out of my head and into life – I can’t wait to hear it!"
Director Braham Murray adds, "“This is the perfect time for Skellig - we all have an angel in us in some way or another. I really believe we can pull this off in an extraordinary way and we can touch every person who comes into the auditorium."
Tickets are now on sale - click here for more information or to book online.
Skellig wings are appearing all over NewcastleGateshead, including sites at The Sage Gateshead, BALTIC, Pitcher and Piano, Seven Stories, the Guildhall, Northern Stage, Side Cafe, Metro stations and more... You can take photos of you and your friends 'wearing' the wings (see our photo of author and librettist David Almond and Merrin Lazyan who plays Mina for inspiration!) and upload your photos to Flickr using this link.
Thoughts on Skellig, by Tod Machover (composer)
September 5, 2008
"It has been a great pleasure working on the opera version of Skellig: over the past two years to shape the project with collaborators David Almond, Braham Murray, and the wonderful team at The Sage Gateshead; and most intensely over the past year to imagine the musical melodies and textures that could bring this magical and mysterious novel to life in a new form. I was first drawn to creating a musical version of Skellig because the whole book is bathed in sound: enveloping sounds of nature and 'the world' that define each scene and situation, and tiny sounds – from beating hearts to baby birds – that can only be heard with careful listening and growing awareness. In fact, the personal and spiritual transformations – and the birth of hope from disinterest and despair – in Skellig are conveyed with extreme subtlety, as if 'in between' the words and 'beyond' the action. I believe that music can express these intangible states in the most powerful way, and that musical continuity – more than just a collection of songs (although there are tunes aplenty in this opera) – helps to transport each of us on Skellig’s unforgettable journey.
Another aspect of Skellig that drew me in was the fact that it speaks in such a special way to young adults while also being relevant and deeply moving to those both older and younger than that target group. In reading the book and then in creating the musical world of the opera, I realized that I could identify with every single character as if their predicament were my own, something I have tried to intensify through music. My hope is that this potential sympathy for everyone on stage will allow a multigenerational audience to better understand one another, and in so doing, to enjoy Skellig together as a truly communal experience.
In creating this unusual new version of a beloved classic and for bringing it to the widest possible audience, I could not have found a better partner than The Sage Gateshead. I know of no other international performing arts organization that is so deeply committed to presenting serious and stimulating work in a direct and simple way, to intermingling classical tradition and popular dynamism, to emphasizing both expertise and fun in it’s public outreach programs, and to using the arts to bring together – rather than to divide – audiences of different ages and backgrounds. Since my whole career has been dedicated to these same goals, the partnership with the Sage Gateshead has felt very special indeed. Together I believe that we have been able to create a new work that defies easy categorization and that will hopefully bring Skellig to new audiences, revealing rewarding and surprising aspects of this great book to all who listen."
The information on this site is correct at
the time of going online. We reserve the right to make changes which
circumstances may necessitate. May we suggest that you call the
relevant box office before leaving for an event to avoid
disappointment?
Ticket exchange and resale: We are happy to
exchange tickets for another performance (within three months) up to
forty eight hours prior to a performance, where possible. We regret
that no refunds can be given. Tickets returned for sold out
performances will be resold whenever possible.
