A lecture/performance as part of the APGRD/TORCH collaborative project bringing artists and researchers together to develop a new 90-minute opera entitled The Alternative Queen's Speech and based on Margaret Atwood's Penelopiad (2005).

Composer Cheryl Frances-Hoad (right) and opera director/librettist Jeanne Pansard-Besson (left) will be turning the canonical narrative of Homer's Odyssey upside down and giving Penelope the chance to offer her side of the story from the underworld. The event is free and no booking is required, but please arrive in good time to secure a seat.

The Alternative Queen's Speech: an opera in the making

A film of the project has been made by filmmaker and photographer, Rocio Chacon. Watch the film 'an opera in the making' on the TORCH YouTube channel