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A Star Next to the Moon

A new opera by Stephen McNeff

— ,Silk Street Theatre
Figure in the foreground dressed in black, holding a bunch of dried, burnt foliage, with desert landscape in the background and cloudy, red skies

Love and belonging struggle under a tyrannical regime in Stephen McNeff’s latest opera, A Star Next to the Moon. Based on Juan Rulfo’s iconic novel Pedro Páramo, with a libretto by Aoife Mannix.

Juan Preciado, as a deathbed promise to his mother, sets out to find his estranged father, Pedro Páramo. But the town of his birth, Comala, is not as he expected. Strange and disturbing encounters with the mysterious inhabitants start to build a picture of a town drowning in its own past.

The details of how Pedro Páramo ruthlessly rose to power as a cruel and tyrannical landowner begin to emerge. Pedro’s one glimpse of humanity is Susana, the young woman he has loved since childhood. However, her decline into sickness and death drive Pedro to despair, and to commit his ultimate act of malice.

Tagged with: Classical music Theatre & dance Guildhall School

Sung in English with English surtitles

Please note this production contains scenes of a sexual nature, violence and death. There will be scenes relating to mental illness, and references to abuse and discrimination. Haze will feature in this production.

Access the free digital programme for A Star Next to the Moon here.

Presented by Guildhall School of Music & Drama

Creative team

Martin Lloyd-Evans director
Dominic Wheeler conductor
Anna Reid designer
Anthony Doran lighting designer
Jonathan Waller fight director
Raniah Al-Sayed intimacy director

Silk Street Theatre