Details

A teenage boy is fatally stabbed. Another boy is caught on CCTV leaving the scene. An open-and-shut case, it would seem. But, as Detective Inspector Anne Strawson investigates the older boy's story, she uncovers a bizarre nexus of chatroom meetings, false identities, fictitious spy rings and raunchy cybersex, leading to just one conclusion: it wasn't so much murder as suicide by internet. Loosely inspired by an incredible but true case that happened in the North of England a few years ago, Nico Muhly's opera enters the secret world of the teenage bedroom to hit the panic button on the realities and risks of living our lives online. Contains scenes of graphic sex and language that some might find offensive. Unsuitable for anyone under 16. A Metropolitan Opera/Lincoln Center Theater commission. New production supported by The 20/20 Group.

Cast/Performers

Susan Bickley (Anne), Nicky Spence (Brian), Mary Bevan (Rebecca), Madeleine Shaw (Fiona), Robert Gleadow (Peter)

Creatives/Company

Music: Nico Muhly
Lyrics: Craig Lucas
Producer(s): English National Opera, Metropolitan Opera New York
Director: Bartlett Sher
Design(s): Michael Yeargan, Fifty Nine Productions Ltd (video)
Costume: Catherine Zuber
Lighting: Donald Holder