Opera company Pegasus looks at the past, present and future as it brings its finale production to Deptford’s The Albany, celebrating the ‘harmony in diversity’
“The stories are timeless, the feelings of the characters are timeless, and the themes are timeless,” says Alison Buchanan, artistic director of Pegasus Opera Company of the theatre of opera.
A Pegasus production, Windrush, the Journey, offers something for everyone and marks the past, present and future of Windrush through opera.
Alison says it has “something different to challenge you or something to delight you”.
After travelling the UK, the finale of the concert tour will take place at Deptford’s The Albany.
Through the music of Chevalier de Saint Georges, Richard Thompson and Des Oliver, the show portrays the arc of Windrush.
The three Black composers represent different parts of the Windrush journey – from its origin to present day.
Alison explains: “In terms of why we wanted to focus on Windrush, it is a story that people today understand and it’s a lived experience. The opera and an artist’s job is telling common-themed stories that we all feel. But it’s also reflecting on history.
“Sometimes the role of music is to be provocative, to provoke change, to provoke thought. And part of this is done by storytelling. I think that one shouldn’t shy away from telling the truth. Our job is to challenge thought and challenge how people perceive things.”
She adds that it is important to listen to things that stretch you.
Windrush, the Journey starts with Caribbean life, which is represented by Chevalier de Saint Georges, who was born in Guadeloupe in the 1700s, and he is 11 years older than Mozart, says Alison. “A lot of his music was lost. The show includes excerpts from his only surviving opera, which is Lamont Anonim, the Anonymous Lover.”
“Then the next journey is the Caribbean Windrush generation,” Alison adds. Richard Thompson was born in London to Jamaican parents who moved here, his Five Aspects of Othello features soliloquies and Alison “thought it would be interesting to see what a Black composers’ take on the subject was”, she says.
And then Des Oliver explores themes from when Caribbean children moved to England, “and they had to make friends with the with white British children and they experienced snow for the first time”, says Alison.
Alison became artistic director of the opera company “reluctantly”; the founder of Pegasus was “brother from another mother” Lloyd Newton, who sadly passed away. In his will, he wrote: “Alison Buchanan is going to run Pegasus.”
She has headed the company ever since, with now executive director of Pegasus, Sonia Hyams.
Founded with the aim of creating opportunities for Black and Asian singers, the tagline of Pegasus is “harmony in diversity”. The company has since produced many productions of standard operas with multicultural casting.
Alison’s background is as a soprano classical singer and she has toured the world.
Pegasus is now a National Portfolio Organisation, with funding from Arts Council England. Alison says she thinks “Lloyd will be smiling”.
“One of the things we always do in our concerts is we always talk to people,” says Alison. “When we have these community concerts that we call Legacy and Hope – something that Lloyd started – we’re always telling stories. I say, you’re in my living room.”
“With classical music, there’s sometimes an expectation that we’re supposed to understand, even though it might not be in English. But I always find that people respond better to what you’re singing when they have a context.”
So, for Windrush, the Journey, there is a narrator (Victoria Evaristo) who will tell the stories of the opera, about Pegasus, about the composers – “there’s dialogue”, says Alison.
You will also find a projection at the performance showing Windrush pictures – some of which are of Alison’s family, she tells The Weekender. “So it’s a feast for the eyes and the ears.”
Dates: Wednesday 26 June to Friday 28 June 2024
Tickets: £12
The Albany, Douglas Way, SE8 4AG
