Page 76 - Aldeburgh Festival 2022 FINAL COVERAGE BOOK
P. 76
28 May 2022
Time corkscrews inwards: Tom Coult on clocks, time & humanity in Alice
Birch & his opera Violet
Tom Coult: Violet in rehearsal with Frances Gregory, Anna Dennis, Richard Burkhard (Photo Patrick Young / Britten Pears Arts)
To have the premiere cancelled is not the best way to launch your first opera, but that happened
to Tom Coult and Alice Birch's opera Violet thanks to the recent pandemic. Thankfully, things were
rescheduled and Violet, with music by Tom Coult and text by Alice Birch, is being premiered at
the Aldeburgh Festival on 3 June 2022, with further performances in Aldeburgh and elsewhere
[see Tom's website]. Tom is currently resident composer with the BBC Philharmonic, whilst Alice is
an acclaimed playwright known for her powerful female-centred writing (her screenwriting has
included the recent film adaptation of the Graham Swift novel Mothering Sunday and her
play [Blank] premiered at the Donmar Warehouse in 2019). Violet has an intriguing premise; the
heroine, Violet, is stuck in a stultifying marriage when time starts to quicken and each day is an
hour shorter. I recently met up with Tom, during a break in rehearsals, to find out more.
