Opera - Kepler's Trial

Tim Watts: KEPLER'S TRIAL

Friday 28 October: 8:15pm - 9:45pm
Saturday 29 October: 8:15pm - 9:45pm

St John's College Chapel, St John's Street, CB2 1TP

Johannes Kepler's mother Katharina might well have remained entirely in the shadows had she not, in the summer of 1615, been accused by a neighbour of being a witch. The case dragged on for six years, eventually leading to a trial, in which the famous astronomer, putting his life on hold, took over his mother's defence. Drawing on Ulinka Rublack's recent book, 'The Astronomer and the Witch', Kepler's Trial tells this story. It is the culmination of a highly unusual creative process, in which a team of scholars working in a wide range of different fields from several different institutions met regularly to explore the story, and to consider the challenges posed by bringing it to the stage. The opera seeks to illuminate the story through the combination of allusions to the music of the early seventeenth century (cornetts and sackbuts, chorales, Lutheran drinking songs) with video sequences by Aura Satz that amplify its themes of darkness and light, moon and sun, sight and illusion, with, at its centre, the depiction of the aging woman.

For further information about the background, design and production of the opera, please see http://keplers-trial.com/. The production has been made possible with funds from St John's College, the Faculty of History and the Faculty of Music.

To book go to http://www.festivalofideas.cam.ac.uk/events/tim-watts-keplers-trial

Opera - Three Tales

Music by Steve Reich; Film by Beryl Korot

11pm, Wed 17th - Sat 20th Feb 2010, The ADC Theatre, Cambridge

Rubbish Productions with Ensemble BPM

“The human body is extremely limited. I would love to upgrade myself.” (Kevin Warwick)


Three Tales is a documentary digital video opera that recalls three events of significant social and scientific importance from the early, middle and late 20th century: the crash of the Hindenburg Zeppelin, the nuclear bomb testings at Bikini atoll, and the cloning of Dolly the Sheep. Through a rich tapestry of live opera and moving image, each of these reflects on the growth and implications of technology during the 20th century from early air transport to the current ethical debate on artificial intelligence and the future of our species.

Set to music by one of the greatest living composers, the Three Tales are told from various perspectives, with speech culled from interviews with eyewitnesses, audiovisual documentary material of both the Hindenburg and Bikini tragedies, and experts in computer science (Marvin Minsky), artificial intelligence (Rodney Brooks), Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, and genetic engineering (Richard Dawkins).