Mini Operas Script Competition

The full website is here, but here's an excerpt:

The Script Competition

Opens: 26 March 2012
Closes: 21 May 2012

Writing for opera doesn’t have to be scary. That’s why we’re swinging the Coliseum doors open and handing the chief job over to you – yes, you!

To ignite your imagination we’ve enticed three of the most inspiring writers to provide Mini Operas’ seed stories: Will Self, A.L. Kennedy and Neil Gaiman.

Here’s what we want you to do. Read the three seed stories and pick the one that interests you most. Then write a script for a 5-7 minute opera based on that story. When it comes to inspiration, anything goes: a single word, title, a mood or even a character name.

In May we’ll pick 10 scripts to go through to the next round. Those scripts will become the seeds that we will ask people to compose a soundtrack for in the next competition. Remember that your writing will be set to music by someone else and that words can take a lot longer to sing than to read, so less is definitely more.

At the end of the Mini Operas competition we’ll choose three lucky people to participate in a new mentoring scheme with Jeremy Sams, Nico Muhly or Leo Warner.

But for now, just get writing. You’ve got until 21 May to write your own script and enter it via our online form.

If you’re stuck on how to approach them, don’t panic. Our resident author Tamsin Collison has written us an example for each story. You might choose to do something completely different – it’s up to you. We’ll be adding more expert help to the site so come back soon for further inspiration.