Phyllis Chen, composer, performer  co-creator
Rob Dietz, video artist, performer, co-creator
Joseph Cermatori, dramaturg
In 2012, Opera Cabal commissioned Rob and I to create a multimedia work as part of the OPERAshop project. Â Rob and I had worked together on a few pieces at this point, all of which take on the characteristics of miniature theatre, which seem to be an interesting place to question the genre of opera.
The Slumber Thief is inspired by various children’s fairy tales we often with  dark and eerie themes. The eyeball, suffering from insomnia, travels from room to room finding more and more surreal scenarios before finally falling asleep before day breaks.
The lo-fi electronics and visuals are all operated manually during performance, giving an on-stage/back-stage dialogue that is integral to the piece.
Watch the full video here.
