In Five Years' Time at The Space

In Five Years’ Time is a ‘drama in song’ based on an experimental play by Spain’s favourite poet, Federico García Lorca. This surreal work explores themes of love, identity and decay, yet does so in the manner of a fairy tale, clothed in fun and topsy-turviness. Lorca himself said it was impossible to stage, but The Music Troupe has put together a cast of 8 superb singers - playing 14 roles - to bring this operatic adaptation to life in the style of a cabaret. Displaying the group’s trademark lyricism, the music is stimulating and accessible while the drama and poetry are uniquely heart-rending.

The main theme of the opera is the poet’s search for identity in its many forms while the non-linear narrative explores the nature of time and truth. All the characters seem to slide into disillusionment and decay: a troupe of circus clowns, by contrast, are happily immersed in their own theatricality.

At the start of the opera, its central character, the poet Federico, is betrothed to the voluptuous young Belisa. Since she is only 15, this gives him an excuse to postpone the wedding for five years. Impatient for sexual fulfilment, she takes a lover while her girl friends express frustration with Federico’s procrastination. Later in the opera, Belisa is ‘reincarnated’ as a deluded Italian countess whose inner life has evaporated, (hence, perhaps, Lorca’s description of her as a Mask).

Federico’s three male friends are cynical, ebullient and sensitive in turn, perhaps representing celibacy, promiscuity and homosexuality. They metamorphose into a trio of circus clowns who appear from time to time.

Meanwhile, Federico spurned his secretary, Rosita, but when the girls tell him of Belisa’s infidelity, he resolves to seek Rosita out again. Although she once loved him, and perhaps does so still, she exacts revenge by telling him to wait five years. Disillusioned and in emotional turmoil, Federico meets a tragic end when assassinated by his friends who’ve embraced the Falangist cause.

In a sub-plot, a neighbour’s child has tragically died and youths have cruelly stoned a cat. The cat and child compare notes as they lie in the mortuary; they are apprehensive about the afterlife to where they eventually pass over at the end of the opera.

Federico: James Schouten (tenor)
Bridesmaid 1 / Dying Child: Rosalind Dobson (soprano)
Bridesmaid 2 / Dying Cat: Mae Heydorn (mezzo-soprano)
Belisa / Italian Countess: Lucy Gibbs (mezzo-soprano)
Rosita: Fiona Hymns (soprano)
Pedro / Colombina: Jean-Max Lattemann (counter-tenor)
Juan / Arlecchino: Chris Murphy (baritone)
Fernando / Pierrot: Thomas Stevenson (bass)
Music: Edward Lambert
Words: adapted by the composer after the play Así que pasen cinco años (1931)
Musical Director / Piano: Alistair Burton
Accordion: Jing Jia
Lighting: Simon Pike
Movement: Jenny Weston
Stage Director: Walter Hall