THERE’S just days to go until a highly acclaimed opera production comes to Siamsa Tíre.

Irish National Opera, in association with Landmark Productions, bring the ‘The First Child’ directed by Enda Walsh to the Tralee venue for one night only on this Sunday, September 25.

The public can get a free view of what to expect on Culture Night this Friday evening at a studio recital from 6:30pm – 7:15pm, where performers from the production will perform a selection of arias and other operatic excerpts from across the canon in an intimate studio setting.

‘The First Child’, is a 90-minute multi-media experience which brings together a sensational cast of opera singers, an actor, a dancer and a children’s chorus to create a work that electrifies the senses.

It wowed audiences and critics at the Dublin Theatre Festival last October and again at Galway International Arts Festival in July.

‘The First Child’ has received rave reviews. “With more twists than a corkscrew, The First Child keeps you hooked till the very dark end.  And even then you’re left thinking,” said The Arts Review.

“Walsh’s satirical libretto,” wrote The Sunday Times, “takes aim at the wine o’clock Dublin suburban classes, while Dennehy’s score exquisitely tunes our emotional register to the damage of childhood trauma.”

Fergus Sheil, artistic director of Irish National Opera, says, “The First Child is an extraordinarily ambitious new opera.  At first glance it is a comic, feel-good opera about a new father buying a baby carrier. But nothing is quite what it seems in a work where a disturbing and grotesque story unfolds and childhood trauma plays out in devastating ways across different generations. It’s an opera with beautiful and haunting singing (including an outstanding children’s choir), dynamic playing from Crash Ensemble, engrossing video and life-or-death dancing. We are delighted to take it on tour for audiences around Ireland to get to see it first-hand.”

Tenor Dean Power, a native of Clarecastle, Co. Clare spent the last ten years working in the ensemble at Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich. He describes what it is like to move back home.

“Performing in Ireland, especially in theatres around the country, is the best! Opera doesn’t have to only be available in one ‘grand’ form. Opera should be like water, able to fit into any environment and be performed under any circumstances. The First Child is an incredible opera. It is stacked with melodies. Its subject, although disturbing and heart-breaking, is completely relatable, funny, moving and gripping. To me it’s just wow!

“Vocally, there are plenty of challenges performing The First Child. there are leaps which continuously catch you by surprise. Technically speaking, you have to rapidly navigate your way through your registers,” he said.

“Rhythmically, you have to make sure that the music is in your bones, as there are constant changes of time signature. The character I play, Gary, is an explosion of contradictions. He is cocky and selfish. He gets his news from social media. Because he is so extremely different to me, he is so enjoyable to play.”

“I’m really looking forward to Siamsa Tíre, it will be my first time performing in the theatre. I think people will like The First Child  because it upends your pre-conceptions about opera – because the music simultaneously slaps you in the face and embraces you. It shows you that Ireland is a thriving opera nation.”

• Tickets for ‘The First Child’ are available now from www.siamsatire.com

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