Actress enlists UK MPs for a reimagining of Karlheinz Stockhausen’s opera Welt-Parlament

© Denelle Ellis & Tom Ellis

Actress (real name Darren Cunningham) will recreate Stockhausen’s opera for a one-off performance at the Royal Festival Hall in London on 14 May.

Actress is set to reimagine composer Karlheinz Stockhausen’s opera Welt-Parlament at Southbank Centre later this month. Titled Actress x Stockhausen Sin {x} II, Cunningham has arranged the opera for voice, AI, piano, choir and electronics. The show will be performed by the Netherlands Chamber Choir, pianist Vanessa Benelli Mosell – who’s also a former student of Stockhausen – and Actress himself.

In the original piece, Baroness Jenkin of Kennington was cast in the role of ‘President’ and she called for a ‘world parliament’ to debate the meaning of love. For Actress’ version, the performance will include interviews with British politicians, and the recordings will be manipulated live during the performance. Those contributing to the piece include Baroness Jenkin and MPs Lloyd Russell-Moyle, Pauline Latham, Ed Vaizey and Sir Bernard Jenkins.

Conservative MP Vaizey told iNews, “I went into a committee room in Portcullis House and, unscripted, answered questions about what I thought love was, in front of 20 people I had never met before. You can imagine, being British, what an excruciatingly difficult experience that was. But that is how great art is born.”

“I’ve no idea what Darren will make of my Hugh Grant-esque stuttering,” he added. “My definition of love would change on any day, depending on whether I’ve loaded the dishwasher.”

As reported by FACT, Actress said, “I want it to appeal to people who may be new to his music, give them an entry point. But I also wanted to connect it to the current political climate.”

Tickets for the event can be purchased here. Watch Actress’ 2018 collaboration with the London Contemporary Orchestra below.