This is London October 2026 - Flipbook - Page 20
David Buckley
20
ORACLE BRINGS ANCIENT
PROPHECY INTO THE DIGITAL AGE
The BBC Concert Orchestra is to
present the UK premiere of Oracle, a
contemporary chamber opera by Emmynominated British-American composer
David Buckley, at Queen Elizabeth Hall,
Southbank Centre, on 3 October at 19.30.
With a libretto by Stephen Plaice, the
40-minute opera offers a darkly comic
reimagining of the ancient Oracle at
Delphi, transported to 21st-century
Northern California. Colton, head of a
global technology corporation, attempts to
recreate the Delphic Oracle as a lucrative
online business, but his plans take an
unexpected turn when one candidate for
the role of Pythia appears to possess a
genuine gift for prophecy.
As Apollo is awakened from his twothousand-year rest, the boundaries
between technology, artificial intelligence
and divine knowledge begin to blur.
‘When Stephen first described the idea
of resurrecting the Delphic Oracle in
Northern California, I was immediately
drawn to the collision between the ancient
world of ritual and prophecy and the
modern world of technology and
prediction,’ says Buckley. ‘It’s wonderful to
be bringing Oracle to London with
Jérôme Kuhn, Daisy Evans and the BBC
Concert Orchestra.’
The semi-staged production is
conducted by Jérôme Kuhn and directed
by Daisy Evans, with Daniel Norman,
Claire Booth and Clare Presland leading
the cast. Buckley will introduce the
performance, which also features music
by Ralph Vaughan Williams and Dobrinka
Tabakova. southbankcentre.co.uk
CABLE CAR CELEBRATES
20 MILLION JOURNEYS
London’s cable car, which travels
across the River Thames between
Greenwich Peninsula and the Royal
Docks, is the UK’s first and only urban
cable car – and it has already welcomed
20 million passengers. Over the last
14 years, the cable car has grown to
become one of the capital’s most
popular visitor attractions. Its route
between Greenwich Peninsula and the
Royal Docks crosses the River Thames
in less than 15 minutes, providing
unique views of London and convenient
access to destinations such as The O2
and Excel London.
Since opening, the cable car has
developed innovative new visitor offers,
including the Glass Floor Experience
where customers can travel in a cabin
with a glass floor offering views of the
capital from 90 metres above the
Thames. Visitors can also enjoy the
Champagne Experience, providing an
unforgettable way to take in London’s
skyline with a glass of bubbly. Over the
years, the London Cable Car has also
hosted live music performances, family
events, karaoke, book launches and skyhigh dining experiences.
Even without such excitement, the
cable car is a fabulous way to look down
over the whole of East London.
LONDON PREMIERE OF HIDDEN
Internationally renowned dance-circus
company Motionhouse are to present the
London premiere of its latest multimedia
production, Hidden, at Sadler’s Wells
East this October. The production further
develops Motionhouse’s distinctive and
visceral dance-circus language, blending
contemporary dance with circus feats,
acrobatics and physical theatre.
At the cutting edge of live performance
and digital integration, Hidden is a
powerful blend of art forms. Gravitydefying choreography, an emotive
soundscape and a shape-shifting set
combine with groundbreaking projections
to explore how light can come out of
darkness in times of crisis.
Since 1988, Motionhouse has created
world class dance-circus productions
that tour across the globe, integrating
athletic physicality, powerful narrative,
incredible digital imagery and emotive
sound scores. The last time they
performed with Sadler’s Wells was
with major hit Nobody in 2021 at the
Peacock.
Motionhouse take their inspiration
from the connection between humans
and the world in which they live, with
works exploring flooding, fear and
captivity, and the human relationship
with water, the Earth and energy.
Ticket Office: 020 7863 8000.
T H I S I S L O N D O N M A G A Z I N E • T H I S I S L O N D O N O N L I N E • w w w. t i l . c o m • @ t h i s i s l o n d o n m a g
