“There were two sisters who will die,
One drowns wet and one drowns dry”
The Opera Group in association with London Sinfonietta will present Bow Down in Summer 2012. This macabre folk tale, originally devised in 1977 by Harrison Birtwistle and Tony Harrison, Bow Down is redevised by Frederic Wake-Walker in his directorial debut for The Opera Group, and brought to percussive and visceral life by seven young interdisciplinary performers.
A Blind Harpist recounts a sinister tale of thwarted desire, unnatural betrayal and violent jealousy. When the Fair Sister is courted by the Suitor, the Dark Sister commits a terrible act of betrayal. As her crime echoes through the land and through the ages, so she receives bloody retribution in the parable’s brutal conclusion.
Evocative of the narratives of Grimm, Federico Garcia Lorca and Sarah Kane in its exploration of repression, sex and death, this ancient murder ballad – of which numerous variants exist in Britain, Scandinavia and America – is reimagined for a diverse contemporary audience.
