Further Information

The group has performed the piece as a work-in-progress at a concert, in Mengi during Dark Music Days and Harpa concert hall during Reykjavik Opera Days - and is now raising funds for the full staging of the opera which will premiere in the spring of 2026.

The Story

The story is about a woman's inner struggle that is reflected in a violent love affair from beginning to end. The protagonist suffers from bipolar disorder, which colours the narrative and turns it into a roller coaster ride between ecstasy and the deepest depression. But whether the character is at the top or the bottom, humor is never far away.

Elizabeth's lyrics are very theatrical. The poems are either sung, performed with a speaking voice, or simply played on the cello.

The cello and the mezzo-soprano voice intertwine very beautifully. Having only these two instruments to play with creates a certain vulnerability, where the tonal texture becomes delicate and clear, which fits particularly beautifully with the text and it's content. The poems are highly mundane and dramatic at the same time, and the operatic form suits them extremely well. It elevates the drama when it's relevant and the mundane becomes very clear and comical when it shines through.

Love

A good example of this is the poem Ástin (e. Love), which marks the beginning of the opera, and which in a very loose translation goes like this:

Love is a a bucket of black decking oil

a packet of cigarettes

a sugar bowl and a coffee cup

screws

ruler

on a table

out in the sun

and two hearts

and i don't know

each one

is mine

The items listed could not be more mundane, yet they represent neither

more or less than Love itself.

Or the Cylinder Man who starts this way:

The night before he moves in

he confides in me

that women had often changed cylinders

to prevent him from entering

and his eyes fill up with tears

and I don't know whether to laugh or cry

What the poem implies is obviously violent, but as you are almost punched in the stomach by the words, you can't help but laugh at the way this impending threat is presented.

The Team

Voice: Tinna Þorvalds Önnudóttir
Cellist: Júlía Mogensen
Composer: Anna Halldórsdóttir
Poet: Elísabet Jökulsdóttir
Director: Bergdís Júlía Jóhannsdóttir
Choreographer, lighting designer and technician: Juliette Louste
Stage and costume designer: Sara Hjördís Blöndal
Producer: Arna Kristín Sigfúsdóttir