Web Log: Opera by text message

Opera doesn’t tend to excite many people, in fact, it can seem intimidating to most; all that singing in fancy costumes, historical settings and foreign languages. Opera by SMS is a project designed to bring modern opera directly to the “opera goer” while including them in the performance.

Hosted on crowd-funding site Indiegogo, the opera – Father’s to I’ve to Father’s – will be delivered as two text messages a day over the course of two weeks in May to all those who buy a ticket. Each text contains links to part of the opera, which features two actors singing abstract poems integrating the names of all those who have bought a ticket. The poems are “written” using a Python-based algorithm while following rhyming rules of classical Chinese rhymed verse.

Jake Harper, who goes by the artist name Banrei, says that the vibration or short burst of ringtone, as you receive the text, is also part of the experience so be sure to change yours to something soothing if you plan to take part.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/opera-by-sms#/