Scottish Opera - Ainadamar

Ainadamar (the Spanish pronunciation of the Arabic name ‘Ayn al-Dam’, meaning ‘The Fountain of Tears’) brilliantly reimagines and explores the life and works of Federico García Lorca – playwright and poet – whose anti-fascist stance and open homosexuality led to his death in 1936 at the hands of Franco’s Nationalists during the Spanish Civil War.

Love, loss, and death – opera’s favourite subjects – emerge through the memories of Margarita Xirgu (Lauren Fagan), muse and friend of Lorca (Samantha Hankey). As Margarita tells their story to her student Nuria (Julieth Lozano), Ainadamar becomes a modern passion play, looking ahead to Lorca’s legacy as an artistic martyr as well as reflecting on his life and works.

In this UK staged premiere, Olivier Award-winning choreographer and director Deborah Colker, known for her intensely physical dance work including with Cirque du Soleil, the 2016 Olympics Opening Ceremony, and her own Companhia de Dança, makes her hotly anticipated opera directorial debut.

The new co-production continues Scottish Opera’s successful partnership with Opera Ventures (Breaking the Waves 2019, Greek 2017). Timely and relevant, Ainadamar promises to be the Scottish premiere everyone will be talking about.

Sung in Spanish with English supertitles