NEWS  - Currently in development

The Promise - a new outdoor opera for families


‘I held a forest in my arms, and my heart was changed.' 

A young girl lives in a hard city, nothing grows there and no one smiles. One lonely night, the girl meets a woman and makes her a strange promise. Slowly, colour, warmth and music return to the girl's world, a forest grows and a community is forged. 

Inspired by the much-loved children's story by Nicola Davies and Laura Carlin, The Promise brings together a team of talented Opera Makers including original Writer Nicola Davies, Composer Daniel Saleeb, Director Lucy Bradley, Designers Sasha Gilmour and Ruth Paton. 

The Promise is a multi-dimensional piece of story-telling theatre for families, which places community and protection of the environment at its heart. It is a story about planting seeds and growing, about the power of nature to heal, and our visceral needs to connect with the soil and each other. More than just a performance, The Promise, will be part opera, part environmental event, a communal act of healing and love which leaves as its legacy a future forest and its custodians. Furthermore, we endeavour to work as sustainably as possible and to centre the Theatre Green Book in our approach to making the Opera, so that all elements of our project tread as lightly as possible on the world. 

More about Lucy

 
Lucy is a director working in the UK and Europe in settings ranging from large-scale Opera houses  and regional theatres to site specific locations and drama schools.

Recent directing credits include Trouser Power: Breeching gendered expectations in Opera for ROH, Learning and Participation; revival director of Street Scene for Oper Köln in Spring 2019; No Sound Ever Dies, for Surrey Arts at Brooklands Museum July 2018; Recital 1  as part of the Europe and the World festival at The British Museum, Eugene Onegin for OperaUpClose, at the Arcola Theatre and on a UK tour in 2017 and the premiere of Belongings at Glyndebourne, by Lewis Murphy and Laura Attridge. Lucy was the Associate Director on Street Scene by Kurt Weill at Teatro Real, Madrid in 2018 and will go on to revive the production in Monte Carlo in 2020. 
​
Follow the link below to Read Lucy's full biography.
Belongings, Glyndebourne 2017 
​Design by Ellan Parry, Lighting Design by Keith Benson,
​Photography by Robert Workman 

Lucy's work 

Lucy has been working professionally as a director since 2008. She makes vibrant, playful, beautiful theatre. Her work is detailed, accessible and full of heart. Lucy works across art forms in Theatre and Opera, she also regularly creates work with participation at its centre. 
Lucy has worked regularly on new music and world premieres of new pieces, as well as on contemporary works and on the Operatic canon. Lucy has made site specific performance in varied locations including The Corinthia Hotel, Brooklands Museum, The British Museum and Battle Abbey.   

Forthcoming Projects

Director: The Promise
A new outdoor opera for Families
by  Daniel Saleeb, Nicola Davies, Lucy Bradley, Ruth Paton and Sascha Gilmour
Currently in development
Premieres 2023

Director: Her Day
A new opera by Sayan Kent and Vanessa Oakes
Presented as part of Coventry City of Culture
Premieres March 2022

Revival Director: Tosca
Royal Opera House
Opening 8th Feb 2022
Director: The Flying Dutchman
inspired by Wagner's original in a new version by Dr Laura Bowler, Glyn Maxwell and Lucy Bradley
Currently in development with ​OperaUpClose
Premieres September 2022

Picture
Street Scene, Oper Koeln 2019 Photography by Paul Leclaire
​Street Scene, Oper Koeln 2019, Photography by Paul Leclaire