Director: Andy Packer

Composer: Quincy Grant

Libretto: Jane Goldney, Andy Packer, Quincy Grant

Original Concept: Andy Packer

Musical Director: Timothy Sexton

Designer: Geoff Cobham

Executive Producer: Jodi Glass

Production Manager: Lisa Hill

Cast:

A new Singspiel (opera) based on the life and work of Edward Lear (1812-1888), Ode To Nonsense is scheduled to premiere in 2011-2012.

Lear is famous as the author of "A Book of Nonsense" and the timeless children's rhymes "The Owl and the Pussycat" and "The Jumblies". Yet behind the infectious merriment this gentle genius nursed disappointment and self-doubt. He believed himself deeply unattractive and was unable to fulfil his ambition to become a celebrated oil painter. Yet he is known and adored more than a century after his passing for that which came as naturally to him as breathing: Nonsense.

Ode To Nonsense celebrates Lear’s life through the eyes of three characters. Giorgio, Lear’s fiery but faithful Greek manservant (think Manuel from Fawlty Towers), Gussie Bethell, the unconfessed love of Lear’s life, and Lear himself. Through an imagined retelling of the last hours of his life we celebrate Lear’s wit, follow his pursuit of love and art, and indulge in inspired nonsense of the highest order.

An original opera created specifically for family audiences aged ten years old and up, Ode To Nonsense poses the question “to be successful, must we really grow up?”.

This fully staged production incorporates some of Lear’s greatest Nonsense poems and songs and is presented by three singers, children’s chorus, seven-piece orchestra and large-scale animated sequences capturing the lushness of Victorian England and Lear’s stunning artwork.

Commissioned by Slingsby in partnership with the State Opera of South Australia. Ode To Nonsense has received Major Commission Funding from the Government of South Australia through Arts SA.