Outer space theatre concert to premiere in Norwich

A new show that mixes theatre, live orchestral performance, and planetarium experience will have its world premiere in Norwich in September.

The Exoplanets is a co-production between the city’s Curious Directive theatre company and the City of London Sinfonia.

Inspired by NASA’s Conceptual Image Lab and supported by astrophysicist Prof Ruth Angus, the show will feature a new kind of orchestral suite, created by a ‘super-group’ of composers from around the world, including Theo Whitworth, Anibal Vidal, Robin Haigh, Blasio Kavuma, Samantha Fernando, Zhenyan Li and Pauchi Sasaki, who have been commissioned to write individual works as part of a collective response to scientific advances in planetary discovery.

Since 1995, 8000+ exoplanets have so far been verified, and this group of composers, alongside Curious Directive, are creating musical responses to seven of these strange new worlds alongside a theatre narrative.

The company’s artistic director Jack Lowe said: “The collision of theatre, classical music and astrophysics is the stuff of artistic dream weaving. ‘Are we alone?’ is one of the prevailing questions in science. Whilst we can’t promise to answer that, The Exoplanets will be a gateway for anyone wondering what else is out there and a chance to re-assess what is important on Earth. As ever with science, the truth is invariably more beautiful than we could have ever imagined.”

City of London Sinfonia chief executive Rowan Rutter said: “The Exoplanets is a ground-breaking orchestral-theatre experience about breaking boundaries between disciplines, bringing new voices to the forefront, and creating a space where imagination and scientific discovery meet. Just as Holst once imagined Mars and Venus through music, we too can use our creativity to explore the unknown.

“Science and art are not separate pursuits – they are two sides of the same coin. This project is an invitation – to scientists, to artists, to dreamers, to anyone who has ever looked up at the night sky and wondered what else is out there. The Exoplanets takes these planets’ secrets and turns them into sound.”