Organization

Admin

The Bicycle Opera Project

Conductor

Kimberley-Ann Bartczak

Stage director

Tom Diamond

Lighting designer

Gabriel Cropley

Singer

Larissa Koniuk

Rena McLean

Allison Angelo

Minnie Gallagher

Catherine Daniel

Matron Pearl Fraser

Alex Beley

Alexina Dussault

Emma Char

Christina Campbell

Rebecca Genge

Mary Agnes McKenzie

Owen McCausland

Sergeant Arthur Knight

Keith Lam

Major Tom Lyon

Michael Nyby

Oberleutnant Helmut Patzig

The Llandovery Castle

Toronto

Canada

Calvin Presbyterian Church

Public

Santiago Martin Bermejo

Approved

Highlights from the workshop performance of The Llandovery Castle, a new Canadian opera about a forgotten story of the Great War. The opera focusses on the calm confidence, skill, and selflessness of 14 Canadian nursing sisters who drowned when their hospital ship the Llandovery Castle was torpedoed in the Atlantic. 

At a time of great darkness there were those "who chose to walk in the light". This is their story.

Workshop perfomances: June 26 & 27, 2018 
Marking the centennial of the sinking of the Llandovery Castle on June 27, 1918.
Calvin Presbyterian Church, Toronto, Canada
www.llandoverycastle.ca

Rena 'Bird' McLean: Larissa Koniuk
Minnie 'Kate' Gallagher: Allison Angelo
Matron Pearl Fraser: Catherine Daniel
Alexina Dussault: Alex Beley
Christina Campbell: Emma Char
Mary Agnes 'Nan" McKenzie: Rebecca Genge
Sergeant Arthur Knight: Owen McCausland
Major Tom Lyon: Keith Lam
Oberleutnant Helmut Patzig: Michael Nyby


Composer; Stephanie Martin
Libretto: Paul Ciufo
Director: Tom Diamond
Music Director: Kimberley-Ann Bartczak
Produced by The Bicycle Opera Project
Project Managers: Larissa Koniuk & Jennifer Collins
Lighting: Gabriel Cropley
Stage Manager: Dayna Dickenson
Video by Darren Bryant, Limberlost Films

We gratefully acknowledge the financial assistance of the Canada Council for the Arts.

0:07 / 8:15   Llandovery Castle Highlights

The loss of 14 Nursing Sisters who drowned when their hospital ship the Llandovery Castle was torpedoed while crossing the Atlantic is a forgotten story of the Great War.

Composer Stephanie Martin and librettist Paul Ciufo have created a new Canadian opera as an act of remembrance to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Llandovery Castle in June 1918.

The calm confidence, skill and selflessness of Canadian nurses during the First World War stand in stark contrast to the chaos and violence that surrounded them. From the horrors inflicted by inhuman trench warfare, the Sisters offered healing and compassion to soldiers on both sides of the conflict.

Matron Pearl Fraser, her colleagues Rena ‘Bird’ McLean and ‘Kate’ Gallaher, German U boat Oberleutnant Helmut Patzig, and two Canadian servicemen who survived the sinking are brought to life by the singers of The Bicycle Opera Project, and Director Tom Diamond.

The issues explored in the opera are highly relevant in today’s world.

English

The Llandovery Castle by Martin, Stephanie, From (2018/2018), Directed by Tom Diamond,, Conductor Kimberley-Ann Bartczak, Calvin Presbyterian Church, Toronto, Canada

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