Rip it up and start again: Welsh National Opera

A night at the opera may not seem like the obvious entertainment for a group of disaffected Welsh teenagers. But just over a century ago, it was the same sense of being an outsider – combined with a desire to fight injustice – that led a young woman from Newport to join the suffragettes and take on the establishment.

The story of Margaret Haig Thomas, Viscountess Rhondda, is little known, even in Wales, but the Welsh National Opera's (WNO) dynamic and instantly appealing production of Rhondda Rips It Up! opens a window not only on the life of this extraordinary activist and entrepreneur but also on the place of women in society.

A strong education programme has been created by WNO around the opera, which it describes as a ‘tongue-in-cheek entertainment, created for your delectation by the illustrious Elena Langer, composer and suffragette, and the inimitable Emma Jenkins, librettist and suffragette.’

The journey through Thomas’ life tells the story of a campaigner for women's suffrage, who became the lightning rod for women's efforts during the First World War, survived the sinking of the Lusitania and created the radical feminist magazine Time and Tide. Her efforts were rewarded in 1918, when women over 30 who held property were enfranchised.

‘We've showcased her fight for liberty, survival and equality in several ways,’ says Lisa Davies, WNO's youth and community producer. ‘There've been community events, talks, schools’ workshops, exhibitions, interactive digital experiences as well as the production itself.

‘It's all underpinned by the suffragette slogan “Deeds Not Words ”. In Newport, Gwent, for example, where Lady Rhondda lived, around 40 young people from John Frost Secondary School devised and performed their own performance piece looking at today's political activism and taking inspiration from Lady Rhondda and the suffragettes.

‘Their piece was performed on WNO's opening night at Newport's Riverfront Theatre and was a fantastic experience. During the workshops, they had a free hand to discuss whatever they felt was important to them and then develop their own work.’

Davies went into the project with the intention of exploring three main areas: helping students understand the creative process of writing and developing opera, exploring what political activism means; and producing and performing a piece based on ‘Deeds Not Words’.

United we stand

Jayne Bryant, the Welsh Assembly member for Newport West, was impressed by what she saw: ‘They had an opportunity to work with top-class WNO performers and, along with the rest of the audience, I was really blown away by their performance. Most importantly, the project has shown how giving young people the chance to have their voices heard through performance has a significant, positive impact on their mental wellbeing.’

This aspect is also important to Davies: ‘I can't commend the school enough for taking these students out of their GCSE classes for this project,’ she says. ‘There are mental health issues here that probably wouldn't have been discussed had it not been for the opera. Feminism and equality were talked about and stress, eating disorders, anxiety and depression all came up.

‘Many felt there was not enough support for them or the opportunity to talk and be taken seriously. What impressed me most though was the way they wanted to look after each other and be there for their friends.’

Other schools, especially with younger children, concentrated on different areas of the arts. At Cwmparc, in the Rhondda, primary-age children visited Parliament and made banners and rosettes, while in Gwynedd's Bangor, a series of bilingual summer workshops developed a song cycle to be performed at the city's arts centre, Pontio, before a WNO performance in October.

There's also a digital technology strand, described by WNO as ‘our most ambitious and experimental project to date, featuring a site-specific, mixed-reality installation. This is a first for us, blending together music, theatre and performance. Audiences will be transported from the physical space to an augmented environment via an iPad, allowing them to access the world of Lady Rhondda in a highly engaging and unique way.’

The augmented reality exhibition will allow audiences to explore the Session House in Usk – where Thomas was tried and sentenced for blowing up a Newport post box with a home-made bomb – through virtual images and technology.

On the one hand, Rhondda Rips It Up! is just a great night out, a thigh-slapping romp, led by MC Lesley Garrett, through the lens of musichall, with an all-female cast and creative team.

But it's more than this: a real community event, where schools can immerse themselves in the story. There's a sing-a-long before the opera, community choirs join in the performance, and it forms a cross-curricular education resource which has sparked debate among teenagers who normally wouldn't venture near an opera.

Students working with Rhys Hutchings from Goldie Lookin Chain

School workshops explore multiple issues through the medium of music

Bryant remains deeply moved by the project: ‘I can't emphasise enough how important the arts are to children. At a time when we are all under such financial pressure to make cuts, I'm overwhelmed when I see the effect this work has had on the teenagers.’

An online video series, curated by librettist Emma Jenkins, will explore Lady Rhondda's story and adventures and will raise the curtain on what it takes to get a very modern musical comedy from page to stage. There will be five episodes on the WNO website and on its YouTube channel.

Digital installation tour

The complete list of tour dates are as follows:

• SWANSEA, Taliesin, Wed 3 Oct
• OXFORD, Playhouse, Tue 9 Oct
• BANGOR, Pontio, Tue 16 Oct

Workshop performances

• SWINDON, Wyvern, Tue 23 Oct
• NORTHAMPTON, Royal & Derngate, Thu 24 Oct
• MOLD, Theatr Clwyd, Thu 8 Nov
• WINCHESTER, Theatre Royal, Tue 20 Nov

wno.org.uk/whats-on/rhondda-rips-it-up