Barefoot Opera in partnership with Strongback Productions is thrilled to announce our upcoming community opera, The Mermaid of Rye, with and for the communities in Rye and the surrounding coastal towns.
The town of Rye – poised between marsh, sea and countryside – stands at a crossroads. On the frontline of rising seas and climate change, its defining livelihoods of fishing and farming are under threat. At the same time, it bears the scars of the man-made decline that has affected coastal communities across our island nation. Beneath its cobbled streets and pristine medieval beauty lies a quieter story of social and cultural deprivation. And within that story are the women — central to the fishing industry for generations — whose labour, resilience and leadership have too often been overlooked and undervalued.
Our opera will weave together myth, history and the present day to tell a story of both warning and hope. It seeks to rekindle our connection to the natural world and to remind us of our own power to shape change. Through music and storytelling, we will ask urgent questions: What are we doing about the climate crisis already reshaping our daily lives? Who is truly listening? How do we choose to pay attention? And what action is possible now?
At its heart, this project confronts our shared fragility — environmental, economic and social — and transforms it into collective strength. It is an invitation not only to witness change, but to become part of it.
Our ambition is twofold: to transform the cultural confidence and creative ecology of Rye, and to contribute a distinctive, contemporary work to the operatic repertoire. By combining professional artistic leadership with deep community collaboration, we will produce an opera that is both locally grounded and widely relevant – a work that speaks to urgent contemporary concerns while resonating far beyond its place of origin.
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Find out more about Strongback’s ACE funded public programme of workshops – SongMaps Rye.
