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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'Imagine a world where you have no voice. That is the world for many in contemporary Australia who are silenced legally, politically or culturally.
'Speechless – a powerful new opera by award-winning composer Cat Hope – is a personal response to the 2014 Human Rights Commission report ‘The Forgotten Children: National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention’. Through a vocal language beyond words, Speechless is a channel for Hope to come to terms with the terrible things she sees perpetrated in her name by those in positions of power.'
Source: Perth Festival.
Production Details
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First workshopped (including two showings) in July 2017.
Premiered at the 2019 Perth Festival, 26 February - 3 March 2019, at the Sunset Heritage Precinct.
Composer & Director: Cat Hope.
Soloists: Judith Dodsworth, Karina Utomo, Tara Tiba, Sage Pbbbt.
With The Australian Bass Orchestra and Decibel New Music Ensemble.
Musical Director: Aaron Wyatt.
Sound Designer: Guy Smith.
Lighting Designer: Matt Adey.
Lighting Designer: Andre Vanderwert.
Assistant Director: Rakini Devi.
Production Partners: Perth Festival, Monash University.
Production Manager: Guy Smith.
Producer: Annalisa Oxenburgh (for Tura New Music).
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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Other Utterances
2021
single work
essay
— Appears in: Axon : Creative Explorations , July vol. 11 no. 1 2021; 'In this paper I examine three recent performance works where poetic language has been extended beyond words to evoke the body in unusual, speculative and potentially transformative ways. The works I will reference are: The Howling Girls (2018), an opera by Adena Jacobs and Damien Ricketson; Speechless (2019), an opera created by Cat Hope; and a series of participatory performances by Catherine Clover. The works all have in common a goal to push poetic language to extreme or unusual places as a way to explore subjects such as loss, trauma and fear, but also possibility, transformation and renewal. The paper will analyse techniques used by the artists; discuss the impact and effect of the various approaches; and argue for the way performance works are uniquely placed to employ poetic language in this way.' (Introduction) -
In a Notoriously Sexist Art Form, Australian Women Composers Are Making Their Voices Heard
2019
single work
column
— Appears in: The Conversation , 22 May 2019;'Classical music has traditionally not been a welcoming environment for women composers. Opera Australia’s 2019 season, for instance, features just one work by a female composer, Elena Kats-Chernin.'
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Perth Festival Gives New Australian Work an Internationally-recognised Platform on Which to Prove Itself
2019
single work
column
— Appears in: ABC News [Online] , March 2019;'At a Sunday 5pm show, the fifth in an 11-show run for Perth collective The Last Great Hunt, performers Arielle Gray and Adriane Daff were rocking an 80s glam wrestling look and mugging for two cameras on the stage — when their show, titled Lé Nør [the rain], suddenly stopped.' (Article summary)
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Perth Festival Gives New Australian Work an Internationally-recognised Platform on Which to Prove Itself
2019
single work
column
— Appears in: ABC News [Online] , March 2019;'At a Sunday 5pm show, the fifth in an 11-show run for Perth collective The Last Great Hunt, performers Arielle Gray and Adriane Daff were rocking an 80s glam wrestling look and mugging for two cameras on the stage — when their show, titled Lé Nør [the rain], suddenly stopped.' (Article summary)
-
In a Notoriously Sexist Art Form, Australian Women Composers Are Making Their Voices Heard
2019
single work
column
— Appears in: The Conversation , 22 May 2019;'Classical music has traditionally not been a welcoming environment for women composers. Opera Australia’s 2019 season, for instance, features just one work by a female composer, Elena Kats-Chernin.'
-
Other Utterances
2021
single work
essay
— Appears in: Axon : Creative Explorations , July vol. 11 no. 1 2021; 'In this paper I examine three recent performance works where poetic language has been extended beyond words to evoke the body in unusual, speculative and potentially transformative ways. The works I will reference are: The Howling Girls (2018), an opera by Adena Jacobs and Damien Ricketson; Speechless (2019), an opera created by Cat Hope; and a series of participatory performances by Catherine Clover. The works all have in common a goal to push poetic language to extreme or unusual places as a way to explore subjects such as loss, trauma and fear, but also possibility, transformation and renewal. The paper will analyse techniques used by the artists; discuss the impact and effect of the various approaches; and argue for the way performance works are uniquely placed to employ poetic language in this way.' (Introduction)
