Dead Equal
an opera
Creators
Music: Rose Miranda Hall
Libretto: Lila Palmer
Premiered
Edinburgh Fringe Festival, 2019
Summary
“How many times can I die watching them, in this undying war?”
Dead Equal is a prize-winning chamber opera written by an all-female creative team with three female leads, hailed by critics as ‘true feminism.’ It draws an historic line through women combatants from World War I to Afghanistan and the challenges they’ve overcome to work and live, including queer, trans, gender and racial identity, and the moral and personal challenge of a job that demands absence and often, death. Part love story, part adventure epic, Dead Equal fills in the erasures of the past to illuminate the lineage of women serving in the present. Drawing from historical research and pioneering interviews with women serving in the British Army, Dead Equal inverts opera’s obsession with passive female death to make women warriors sing.
Run Time: 60 minutes
Photos by Nick Johns
What People Are Saying
“A fascinating departure from the usual concept of operatic storytelling. This is a reflection of real people and real concerns which often go unspoken… This is a bold, sometimes beautiful, and ultimately moving modern opera. It's a powerful insight into a woman's experience in warfare.”
— British Theatre Guide
“A resplendent feminist perspective on female involvement in combat. Championing the women who have played a vital part in the army, writer Lila Palmer has integrated verbatim testimony of army servicewomen stationed in Afghanistan, with the trailblazing story of the first British woman to serve on the front line in the First World War. Profound, poetic and dripping with pathos – beautifully written, powerfully performed and reaching the hearts of everyone listening.”
— Broadway Baby
“This premiere shows incredible promise in challenging what we expect on an operatic stage. It’s worth trekking to witness this bold experiment in musical storytelling. The often-ignored narratives of military women certainly deserve voices this powerful to have their struggles, achievements, and experiences heard.”
— The Feminist Fringe
“An atmosphere that is both suitably unsettling and inspiring as the intertwined stories build to a violent and hugely effective climax. The experience of contemporary socio-political opera is perhaps unusual at the fringe, but all the better for it, as it transports you into another world… In ‘Dead Equal’ Palmer and Hall are not only delivering an accessible and unusual application of operatic voices but also delivering compelling drama. The entire experience is uplifting and as such, highly recommended.
— Fringe Review
“Dead Equal draws you into the story of courage and sacrifice, and doesn’t let you go until the very end. It isn’t all blood, sweat and tears though. Heart-warming humour is there too. Most definitely not fitting into the usual operatic landscape, this is worth the trip. Take your daughters and your sons to this absorbing performance. Let them be inspired by true feminism.”
— Diva Magazine