The opera Elsewhere, by Irish composer Michael Gallen, premieres at the Abbey Theatre in November 2021. Conducted by Fiona, it brings together French musicians and Irish singers to tell the true story of an asylum on the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
The opera Elsewhere, written by Irish composer Michael Gallen, tells the true story of the first soviet created outside Russia. In 1919, on the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, in Monaghan Asylum, patients and carers locked themselves in together.
The Miroirs Etendus ensemble, directed by Fiona Monbet, joined forces with Straymaker for this production. The French musicians, Irish singers and Franco-Irish conductor first worked in Paris at the Centre culturel irlandais, before taking up residence in Monaghan, where the plot takes place. The opera premiered in 2021 at Dublin’s Abbey Theatre.
“a cacophony of delight that is fun, thought provoking, and often moving”
THE ART REVIEW
“Some dime store psychology, along with a creative stand off with musicians of Ensemble Miroirs Étendus, conducted superbly by Fiona Monbet, adds lots of personality.
Presse : ‘Elsewhere: Agitprop opera combines the serious and the comic‘, The Irish Times, Michael Dervan, 16 Nov. 2021
