MEDIATHEK

The Analysing Engine is a one-act comic opera set in a university. It was originally intended to have a pedagogical function for opera schools and conservatoires in need of repertoire with six more or less equal roles.

The project began in a class for undergraduate singers at Princeton University (co-taught with Rinde Eckert). Subsequently, I went on to complete the libretto and score with advice from Rinde. It was then performed in a workshop version at Princeton in November 2018. There are small revisions to the score since that performance.
 
Some of the humour of the piece derives from the presentation of the piece as if in a scientific laboratory. The audience are treated as fellow scientists at a demonstration of a new machine (the "Engine"). The Engine is a monstrous dominating presence on stage. In an ideal version, the instrumentalists are incorporated into the Engine and the entire space is treated as the set.
 
Two main characters - Professor Platt and her assistant Dr Neare - are revealing the Engine to the audience. This machine can measure love between couples to an unprecedented degree. Four students (two couples) have volunteered to be the initial test-subjects. The test goes wrong and the machine breaks apart, leading to complex entanglements and transformations.
 
My intention has been to create a piece that offers opportunities for humour, fun, imagination and also for pathos and emotional engagement.