Apollo's Mission

Once upon a time, fifty years ago, Apollo (the sun-god) was President of Everything, while his dim sister (the moon-goddess) was just a cabaret artiste in a seedy nightclub. As the Americans invade the moon in July 1969, events take a sinister turn and chaos ensues. Can the gods sort it out or is the “dickhead” President too dysfunctional? Adding a bonkers twist to the Apollo 11 commemorations, this fun-opera investigates our fascination for all things lunar. Apollo’s Mission confuses fact with fiction, earth with moon, god-like humans with a Trump-like god - and then with now.

First performed  August 2019  The Place Theatre  London
as part of the 2019 Tête-à-Tête Festival of new opera ​

• “An amazing mash-up of myth and science… presented in a fast paced manner with the scenes overlapping and inter-cutting, and the hard-working cast of six singers and two dancers playing multiple roles. Lambert's music moved between the popular and the more serious… This was a terrific ensemble show, and certainly made you think. There was an element of puzzlement too, but the sheer pell-mell nature of the piece and its deliberate car crash of competing facts and fantasies was rather appealing.” (Apollo’s Mission August 2019 Planet Hugill)​

Countdown

1. We noted the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing and wanted to write a piece constructed around the mission that would identify as a light opera or musical. Our themes were science and imagination. When the two come together, you can fly to the moon.
2. We were amazed to discover that Buzz Aldrin celebrated communion on the moon. We asked: how far would we have to travel into space before reaching the gods?  At first we thought Jesus might appear in response, but then decided we needed a baddie.
3. There was plenty of material in the flight recordings, and even the jargon is rather poetic. 
4. We personified the moon in the character of Selena, the moon goddess, who, in Greek mythology, was destined to watch over humans by night. Hence, nowadays, she sings in a nightclub where she has her admirers. 
5. In our fantasy world, nightclub and space travel fuse together. Both transport us to other worlds. Passion, fire, burning, flashing, thrusting, etc; the desire, the energy which fuelled the mission - and drives humans to  great achievements.
6. But then, if Selena’s space is invaded when the astronauts land, what about the principle of consent? Not very well established in 1969; the planting of the US flag violates her.
7. Selena has a brother, the sun-god Apollo. In contrast to his little sister, he moves in the upper echelons of society. But he’s a dickhead - which happens to be the name President Nixon was known by. For Presidential stupidity, we didn’t need to look that far back.
8. Apollo’s a guy who shoots first and asks questions later. He's meant to come to her rescue when she’s invaded, but finds himself powerless. The situation stalls in an ‘Ensemble of Perplexity’ (aka Rossini).
9. Kennedy’s aspirational speech is recalled by Armstrong and turned into a finale.
10. Selena understands that humans are no longer bystanders in space. Apollo is confined to a museum because he won’t yield to progress, while Selena, her mysteries revealed, is released from the nightclub to continue her singing career elsewhere. 
11. A prologue and an epilogue hint at the latest theory of moon creation - colliding planets - in contrast to the ancient myths on the subject in which Heaven and Earth got together to produce their child, Selena.

text Norman Welch
music Edward Lambert
staging & movement Korina Kokkali
assistant director Marilena Sitaropoulou
design Charlie Wood
Cast
Natasha Agarwal (mezzo-soprano)
Helen Bailey (soprano)
Dominic Bowe (baritone)
Daniel Joy (tenor)
Sofia Livotov (soprano)
Samuel Lom (bass)
Becky Stenning & Marilena Sitaropoulou (dancers)
Catriona Scott (clarinet)
Luke Wyeth (percussion)
Susan Holmes (piano)
Michael Papadopoulos (conductor)

photos by Claire Shovelton