"pure opera - the holy grail" 

WhatsOnStage

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On April 21 1816 one of the greatest British writers of all time was born in Thornton – West Yorkshire. Less than half a century later three of the greatest books of all time had materialised from this same family that captured the hopes, ambitions and reality of a generation, and 200 years later Constella OperaBallet are going to use this material to remember, revive and re-imagine this great legacy.

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Created as The Brontë Society's Bicentenary celebrations, Glasstown is a new opera-ballet by writer Martin Kratz, composer Leo Geyer, director Ella Marchment and choreographer Jaered Glavin. Glasstown was the imaginary world collectively concieved by Brontë’s as children and young adults. Inspired by Branwell Brontë’s famous self-portrait, the opera-ballet shows how he becomes increasingly absorbed in the imaginary, eventually leading to him to paint himself out of reality.

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As part of the research and development process, an excerpt of Glasstown was previewed  at the Arts Theatre, Leicester Square and was well received from audiences and critics alike, including Kasper Holten (Former Director of the Royal Opera) who praised the innovative approach to the collaboration of music and dance.