Where the Wild Things Are

Enter the weird and wonderful world of Maurice Sendak's much-loved books for children and see his iconic drawings brought to life in two wildly imaginative family operas by Oliver Knussen. Discover your wild side and let your imagination take over as live digital projections, rolling-eyed monsters and talking cats and dogs interact with singers and orchestra to create an unforgettable spectacle.

Watch our Wild Things trailer and listen to our monstrously wild podcast where we speak to director and designer, Netia Jones, costume designers, monsters, Jenny the Dog, and Max himself.

Enter our competition to win prizes and play our fun monster games.

This takes place during Barbican Weekender – two days of free digital activity for all ages and the BBC Symphony Orchestra’s Total Immersion celebrating Oliver Knussen at 60.

Oliver Knussen changed the parameters of British opera with his two picture-book stage works Where the Wild Things Are and Higglety Pigglety Pop! These colourful and opulent creations were inspired by the drawings of Maurice Sendak, whose deeply-felt stories for children have enchanted generations. Knussen’s scores, beautifully complex and yet always touching and involving, are performed by the Britten Sinfonia and a cast of talented, versatile singers.

Specially commissioned multimedia stagings by Netia Jones will see singers, orchestra and projections come together in a joyous celebration of these fun, spontaneous and utterly unreal operatic gems.

‘It’s as though he’s taken it and musically pictured … one step beyond what I’ve done… He’s carried it into another generation … He has moved it into his time, but with an authenticity and truthfulness that I feel.’ Maurice Sendak on Oliver Knussen

'Netia Jones is the most imaginative director of opera working in Britain today'
The Observer 'Hot 100' 2009

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Where the Wild Things Are

An opera double bill by Oliver Knussen