David Haines


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Octopera

Music Theatre

DAVID HAINES (composer / lyricist / librettist)

An evening of eight mini-operas and micro-musicals

Written: 2000

Type of Show: Adult

Duration: 90 mins

Cast: flexible mix of men and women, minimum 3 of each

Musicians: One piano.

Musical Style: Contemporary chamber musical/opera, melodic, strongly rhythmic, harmonically rich and varied with influences from all styles of music fused into a distinctive language.

Productions: Springtide Music Theatre

Performances venues: Crediton, Teignmouth, Dawlish, Malvern, Greenwich

Summary of Stories: A series of music theatre miniatures, mainly for casts of one or two people, linked by the theme of critical turning points in people's lives.
TV Dinner features a famour media chef whose show goes horribly wrong when her production assistant declares his love for her; Blind Corner explores the emotional turmoil of a blind couple, one of whom is about to regain his sight; Fridge reveals the state of mind of an oppressed housewife moments after she has taken the ultimate revenge upon her spouse; Summit portrays a group of world leaders trying out nudity in a desperate attempt to prevent World War III; Varval in Love shows a lovelorn alien attempting to seduce his Earthling pal; Queen of Hearts relates Victoria's private (somewhat bizarre) deliberations on the day she signs the bill outlawing homosexuality; Skyscraper finds the vertigo-stricken construction worker inspired to quit his job by the tale of a remarkable escape from death; and Soup discovers why one member of a an extreme religious sect withdraws from their ecstatic mass suicide at the last moment.

Material available: Full Script / Mini-disk/ Tape/ Video / Synopsis / Vocal Score

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