A Different Story

“Who will tell me a different story?
A story going backwards,
a story going forwards,
a story going upside down,
over, under, round and round -
The next storyteller is YOU!”

A Different Story (2019)

A dystopian youth opera in one act | 40 minutes
Composed by Lewis Murphy

Youth chorus (including small solo parts), piano, trumpet

Commissioned by the Royal Opera House
Premiere: London, August 2019

For photos and media of the premiere, visit the Murphy & Attridge website

There once was a grey city…

And in this city, every year, the citizens initiate a new generation of interns to work in the grey offices of The Overseer. The interns must give up all childish things, and instead vow to dedicate themselves to productivity, competence and efficiency.

But what happens when a particular group of interns is reminded of the stories they used to tell as children, and the questions these stories led them to ask about the world?