ROYAL OPERA HOUSE. LARMES DE COUTEAU.

In Bohuslav Martinů's surreal Larmes de couteau (1928) a young woman considers two prospective lovers. She is besotted with a hanged man, but her mother urges her to marry their neighbour, Satan. Dada meets foxtrot, jazz, ragtime, and blues, in this one-act opera with a flavour of Kurt Weill and café-théâtre.

Cast & Creatives
Director: Eleanor Burke
Musical Director: Edward Reeve
Set/Costume Designer: Anna Reid
Lighting Designer: Bethany Gupwell
Movement Director: Sarita Piotrowski
Fight Director: Rich Gittins
Photography: Camilla Greenwell

THE TIMES

“I DOUBT I WILL BE THE ONLY PERSON TO COME OUT OF THIS DOUBLE BILL WITH A BIG SMILE ON MY FACE…SUCH IS THE LIGHT TOUCH, MISCHIEVOUS ENERGY AND SHEER VISUAL INVENTIVENESS”

★★★★ THE GUARDIAN

“THE MIRACLE OF THIS DOUBLE BILL FROM THE ROYAL OPERA’S JETTE PARKER ARTISTS WAS HOW INTENSELY GRIPPING IT WAS”

★★★★ THE OBSERVER

“NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE SKILL NEEDED TO FRAME THE IRREGULAR, TO MAKE ELEGANT THAT WHICH IS INCOMPREHENSIBLE WHILE KEEPING ANARCHY INTACT. THE LINBURY THEATRE’S DOUBLE BILL OF TWO DADA-ESQUE CHAMBER OPERAS HAS DONE JUST THAT”