This Hostel Life, a series of stories by Nigerian, Irish-based writer Melatu Uchenna Okorie, written while living in Direct Provision, serves as the inspirational fuel for this installation opera by Evangelia Rigaki. The performance takes place down in the Christ Church Cathedral crypt, where the audience will encounter singers from the Irish National Opera Studio and musicians who perform the four scenes on loops, enabling them to pause and relive different parts of the narrative.
Rigari says: ““It has been a big privilege and learning experience to be involved in the inaugural INO Studio and to have the opportunity to develop my new installation-opera based on Melatu Uche Okorie’s captivating stories. The work is tailored to the voices and theatrical talents of the INO Studio opera singers and is written for the musicians of the recently established Dublin based new-music ensemble Parabasis.”
Melatu Uchenna Okorie says: “The style and language of the stories in This Hostel Life, are both experimental and new. It’s kind of befitting I think, that the work text is the inspiration behind a unique and original installation opera”
