Nature
Streetwise Opera Nottingham
Thank you for attending our Nature performance!
Today’s event was co-created by participants in Streetwise Opera’s weekly singing and creative workshops at the Nottingham Playhouse. Over the last six months, Performers have been reflecting and doing research about the environment and the climate emergency, as they rewrite the words to some of the loveliest nature-inspired pieces from the world of opera.
Inspired by memories of towering forests, glistening rockpools and the moon’s quiet pull over the tides, Nature invites audiences to experience the climate crisis not as an abstract issue, but as something deeply personal.
With music by Handel, Delibes, Dvořák, Rimsky-Korsakov and Britten, this project enables people with lived experience of homelessness to raise their voices for climate justice. Besides the performance at Lakeside Arts in Nottingham, there will be similar events in Manchester and London. Find out more.
Running order
Ombra mai fu. From George Frideric Handel’s opera Serse (1738).
It’s Winter, it’s windy
We’re lost in the storm – where are we?
What shall we do in the rain and thunder
Let’s find shelter – yes, let’s find shelter
Oh come to me – shelter under my canopy
We’re coming into Spring
The stars are twinkling bright in the tree
My spirit is alive again
It’s a magical time – a magical tree
My stars are twinkling – I bring harmony – a happy time
Summer is here and nature beckons us
But strife is still in the air
“Father, please hear me, we are here for a holiday
And you don’t seem to care!
And don’t leave that crisp packet there!”
What’s up with them?
We ain’t done nothing wrong
We’ve seen it all before.
And we will see it again
Autumn comes and it’s still burning hot
Pollution is suffocating the roots
Crisp packets everywhere instead of autumn leaves
Lightning strikes – the tree’s on fire
Then comes the driving rain and the floods
We can’t reach the tree and the tree can’t reach us!
Help me, I’m dying
I can hardly breathe
Broken and starved of air
Flooding is everywhere
But my roots are strong
I will rise again
Ah let me hug you
Ah give me shelter – shelter from the storm – and misery
Father come and see, come here and see the tree
Come and appreciate – the tree and me
Ah, the tree’s dying
It can hardly breathe
Broken and starved of air
Flooding is everywhere
But its roots are strong
It will rise again!’
Song To The Moon. From Antonín Dvořák’s opera Rusalka (1901).
Moonlight, you alter me
You make me change
I don’t know how and I don’t know why
The moon’s out tonight and the feeling is right
The moon’s out tonight and the feeling is right
Mood hoover – mood hoover
Mood hoover – mood hoover
I put a spell on you – now you’re mine
I put a spell on you – now you’re mine
We’re gonna suck your soul, cos the moon is whole
We’re gonna suck your soul, and your positivity
We’re gonna suck your soul, cos the moon is whole
Mood hoover – mood hoover
Mood hoover – mood hoover
I put a spell on you – now you’re mine
On a light full moon
Relaxed, cosy, together
Daunted, happy
The moon has vision
The moon has vision
The love of our life, to go for a walk together
Under the moon of love
The love of our life, to go for a walk together
Under the moon of love
It’s lunar time in our prison
Full moon – we’re feeling mad…restless..crazy
We’re feeling mad…restless..crazy
We steal a boat to sail away
We steal a boat to sail away
Following the silver path to the end of the world,
Following the silver path to the end of the world!
The moon is bright and shining at night
People look up to the sky
Go for a drive to watch a film
The moon changes colour and size
You notice and kiss under moonlight
Then swim in the lake, the moon reflecting
Moonlight, you alter me
You make me change
I don’t know how and I don’t know why
Moonlight, o moonlight
Magical moon
I am here waiting,
O moonlight
Come back soon.
Stranger things it does to me
Fills my soul with mystery
Moonlight, return to me
Stay with me
Moonlight
Oh… stay with me!
Chorus of the Birds. From Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera The Snow Maiden (1881)
Happy arriving, we’re tired of flying
We spread our wings and welcome the Springtime
The swallows are swarming, the robins are calling
All joining in the birds’ joyful sing time
We have come, travelled a long way
To reach our safe and warm destination.
Catching up with our feathered friends,
We’ll have a big-time bird celebration.
Winter’s gone, it’s time to get busy
Flying makes us dizzy!
Now it’s time our nests to be building
Twigs and twine for gilding
Ah!…
It’s time for mating and regenerating,
It’s Spring alike for penguin and eagle
Back from migrating, we’re all circulating,
It’s time for fish and chips for the seagull!
Winter-time is over
Winter-time is over
Winter-time is over!
Credits
Performers: Clive Richardson, Amy Jardine, Caroline Middleton, Diane Sule, Jeremy Bartys, Jessica Guest, John Merchant, Josef Pospisil, Jayne Jadsby, Mark Butler, Martyn Nisbett, John Stewartson, Kevin Delaney, Paul Palmer, Simon Kemp, Yasmin Kahn, Natalie Henriques, Julie Ford, Michael Olson, Anna Marshall.
Artistic team: Tim Lole, Victoria Gray, Ben Cahn, Sophie Thorpe, Michelle Mother Hubbard.
Producer: Jessica Spath.
Support workers: Isabella Harriss, Julie O’Farrell.
Frontline homelessness work: As part of Nature, we worked in The Friary and Refugee Roots, two homelessness support centres in Nottingham, with sessions led by poet and drummer Michelle Mother Hubbard, and baritone Benjamin Cahn. Read more here.
Artistic partners: The Nottingham Playhouse, University of Nottingham and Lakeside Arts.
Get involved
How to plant your seeded paper
1. In Spring/Summer, when it’s warm, soak paper in water and tear into small pieces
2. Place in a pot of compost and very lightly sprinkle more compost on top
3. Keep the soil and paper moist (but not soaking wet) in a warm and light environment
4. Once your small plants have grown, place pot outside or keep on a window that has lots of sun
Nature is fragile – do not plant in the wild; suitable for gardens & windows only.