University mental health expert sought out for innovative opera project

PRODUCING an opera in the midst of a global pandemic under the severest of lockdown restrictions could be viewed as an ambitious, if not almost impossible task. But an innovative collaboration, which included the support of an academic from the University of Huddersfield, was able to achieve just that and the final production has been widely acclaimed by some of the music industry’s most well-known critics.

The virtual opera project, known as VOPERA, is the brainchild of director Rachael Hewer and was created last year in response to the global pandemic and the thousands of performers, technicians and artists who were suddenly out of work as theatres across the UK were forced to close their doors.

The University’s Ian Noonan, a senior lecturer in mental health nursing from the Department of Nursing and Midwifery within the School of Human and Health Sciences, was invited to take part after the director recognised that returning to performing, coupled with having to do it in isolation, was going to present new, unexplored challenges and wanted to be ready to support all involved in the production. 

A trained musician and former music therapist, Ian Noonan has worked on numerous collaborative arts and mental health projects for some of the industry’s most elite music and drama schools including the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) and the English National Opera. 

Also a member of the University’s Centre for Applied Research in Health, he was on hand throughout to ensure everyone involved could gain access to professional mental health support as they transitioned into a new way of working and explained how an operatic production such as this, would usually be a collective act when everyone involved would thrive off working with one another. 

“For this production,” he explained, “of course everything had to be recorded in isolation by the singers in their own homes, meaning the more social aspect of performing was taken away. By seeking mental health support, it was a breath of fresh air to see how Rachael, the director, had thought about each performer as a whole person and not just as an artist,” he said.

Eight months in the making, the opera was a collaboration between the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the charitable Concordia Foundation.  Together, they have created a new film adaption of Ravelʼs opera ‘LʼEnfant et les Sortilèges', which in English means The Child and the Spells. The opera tells the story of a child, being educated at home, who is punished for their irascible behaviour by a variety of household objects and animals coming fantastically to life.

The entire production process has been a world-first; with global Zoom auditions and rehearsals, socially distanced orchestral studio recording, individually captured audio recordings, hand-drawn set and costumes and body-double acting overlaid with the recorded cast’s singing faces, superimposed as digital vignettes on the hand-drawn characters they play that has all been brought together using a homemade green screen studio located in the director’s garden. 

VOPERA’s founder Rachael Hewer believes that fundamentally, the emotional impact of not working and not making music has been underestimated and explained how she wanted to create something that people could be actively and creatively involved in. 

“In this highly uncertain time for the arts industry,” she said, “this project enabled over 135 freelance musicians, artists, creatives, technicians, producers and administrators from around the world to be able to do their jobs again whilst receiving a fee. Singers need to sing; players need to play and VOPERA made this possible.”

Feedback from the cast

Feedback received from the performers about having support from a mental health practitioner has been positive and two-fold. Not only was it really well received by those who accessed the support, it was also well received by those who didn’t use it, but who knew the support was there. 

“Just knowing that it was there if they ever needed it, acted as support in itself,” explained Ian Noonan.  

“No theatre would open without a first-aid box or a defibrillator on site, and most public performances are supported by volunteers from St John’s Ambulance or other organisations. What is less visible is that same kind of support in terms of first aid for mental health and it was great to be involved with VOPERA who recognised that mental health was as important a component of occupational and public health as their physical wellbeing,” he added. 

He concluded how there was a huge amount of learning and possibility for collaboration between those in mental health and the performing arts and said the scope for further research was very interesting. 

The aforementioned adaptation of Ravel’s opera ‘L’Enfant et les Sortilèges’ can be viewed by subscribing to Marquee TV where the opera will be available to stream until the end of 2022.

What the critics wrote

“VOPERA’s brilliant updating of L’Enfant et les Sortilèges is an ingeniously designed video fantasy take on Ravel’s production and is one of the most successful online operas I’ve come across over the last nine months. The action has been pointedly updated; the bored, wilful but rather serious child, played on screen by Amelie Turnage, and sung by the mezzo Emily Edmonds, is being home-schooled during lockdown – her tantrum includes smashing the laptop she is supposed to be working on – and at one point her fantasy takes her into an emergency hospital, where she is given oxygen by the Princess from the original story, dressed in PPE. With all the technical challenges of putting it together, it is a remarkable and polished achievement.”

Andrew Clements for The Guardian

“L’Enfant et les Sortilèges has been one of Lockdown’s most ambitious arts projects yet. With the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the kind of singers you normally need to pay Royal Opera House prices to hear, theyʼve created a project that not only makes the most of our new digital world, but helps make sense of it, too. This is a proper ensemble show and it is that spirit of camaraderie and creativity against the odds that makes the strongest impression.”

Alexander Coghlan for i news

“Technically the results are extraordinary, but creatively this is quite simply a masterpiece, one of the most assured, ambitious and deeply moving projects to have emerged from lockdown, and one that’s determined to see lockdown limitations as creative opportunities. If you can make it through the images of ghost lights and empty auditoriums that accompany the opera’s choral conclusion without reaching for a hankie – well, you’re made of stronger stuff than I am.”

David Kettle for The Scotsman