We have lots of exciting works in development here at Tapestry. Commissioning and developing new Canadian opera is at the heart of what we do, with a process refined over 40 years of experience in world premieres of all sizes.
Our artistic development focuses on investments in workshopping, dramaturgy, innovation and a commitment to artists. Each particular work’s needs shape the process, which is grounded in collaboration, openness, and a drive for artistic excellence. There’s no telling what magic can arise out of such vast possibility.
With a number of major works in development, including site-specific productions and new investments in integrated technologies, there’s a wealth of artistic exploration and development going on behind the scenes!
R.U.R. A Torrent of Light
Inspired by Karel Capek’s 1920 play Rossum’s Universal Robots, Tapestry Opera’s World Premiere of R.U.R. follows technologists Helena and Dom as they develop a groundbreaking artificial intelligence operating system. When their AI begin to machine-learn at a deep and rapid rate, they find themselves in opposition to one another, confronting both the former partner whom they no longer understand, and their own separate fears for the future of humanity.
This innovative creation partnership with OCADU and the Department of Interdisciplinary Arts features works by OCADU graduate students and a unique performance gallery.
Development supported by an Opera America Innovation Grant.
Of The Sea
Maduka, an African man onboard a ship carrying people to be enslaved in America, chose to take his life rather than endure the ship’s gruesome conditions and uncertain end point. Immediately after jumping, he regrets taking his infant daughter, Binyelum, with him, and he embarks on an undersea quest to return her to the long life she should have had.
Of the Sea brings to light the stories of people lost during the Middle Passage. At its core it is the story of a parent’s love for their child, their desire for that child to have a different, better life than their own, and the wasted lives and potential of a people lost to history, lost to the sea.
A Co-Commission and Co-Production with Obsidian Theatre.
Gould’s Wall
Part biopic, part philosophical inquiry, part exercise regime, Gould’s Wall asks a deceptively simple question: what is perfection?
Told as a conversation between Glenn Gould and a young artist, performers climb the Atrium wall in the Royal Conservatory of Music as they investigate the endless rise and fall of the artistic process. A cheeky libretto, a lush score, and a highly unusual opera-viewing experience!
In partnership with the Royal Conservatory of Music’s 21C Festival.
