Man and Boy: Dada

Man and Boy: Dada is a 2003 opera by Michael Nyman with a libretto by Michael Hastings. It tells the story of a friendship between aging dada artist Kurt Schwitters and a twelve-year-old boy. These two characters and the boy's mother make up the cast of the opera.

It was first performed at the Badisches Staatstheater in Karlsruhe, Germany, on 13 March 2004, directed by Robert Tannenbaum. It was then performed in the UK by the Almeida Opera in July 2004, in a production designed by Jeremy Herbert, directed by Lindsay Posner and conducted by Paul McGrath at the Almeida Theatre.^[1]^[2]

The opera features an extensive use of oboe (rare in Nyman's work), mostly in the second act, to capture the feel of post-War popular music, somewhat reminiscent of Dmitri Shostakovich's Suite for Variety Orchestra.

^ Church, Michael (20 July 2004). "Man and Boy: Dada, Almeida Theatre, London". The Independent. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
^ Clements, Andrew (16 July 2004). "Man and Boy: Dada". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 February 2024.

[1] Church, Michael (20 July 2004). "Man and Boy: Dada, Almeida Theatre, London". The Independent. Retrieved 5 February 2024.

[2] Clements, Andrew (16 July 2004). "Man and Boy: Dada". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 February 2024.

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