DOVE The Monster in the Maze (50’)

An opera production for the people of Sheffield and with the people of Sheffield.

Here they are – the children of Athens!
The hope of Athens, the future of Athens!
Deep in the maze, the monster, already
paws the sand and tosses his horns...
      - libretto, Monster in the Maze

King Minos has a labyrinth in his palace. Inside there lurks a Minotaur. This monster, half man and half bull, feeds on human flesh.

Minos decrees that the Athenians should provide a regular supply of their young people to be sacrificed to the monster. The Athenian hero Theseus steps in, determined to enter the maze and take on the monster at its heart...

Jonathan Dove’s ‘The Monster in the Maze’ receives its Sheffield premiere on the iconic Crucible stage. Our most ambitious project to date, this will be Music in the Round at its best: a bold collaboration, forged in the crucible of creativity that is our City of Makers.

Commissioned and first performed in 2015 by the Berlin Philharmonic and London Symphony Orchestra with Simon Rattle, it was praised by the Financial Times as “an exhilarating, visceral take on the ancient Greek myth”.

This amazing new production will showcase people of all ages coming together from across the city to perform alongside our professional resident artists and guests, highlighting the best of music-making in Sheffield.

An epic story: millennia in the making and a fitting celebration for our 40th anniversary year!

With thanks to our funders: Blakemore Foundation, JG Graves Charitable Trust, Music for All & Scops Arts Trust.