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Proving Up

Guildhall School of Music & Drama

— ,Milton Court Theatre
A man looks through a broken glass window

Join us for the UK premiere of Proving Up, a new opera by acclaimed composer Missy Mazzoli. Set on the unforgiving plains of 1870s Nebraska, it offers a haunting reflection on the American Dream.

Inspired by Karen Russell’s short story, with a libretto by Royce Vavrek, the opera follows the Zegner family as they strive to fulfil the rigid demands of the Homestead Act in order to claim ownership of the land they have settled. Among these requirements, one stands out with a powerful symbolic weight: a single glass window. 

Premiered in 2016, Proving Up marked a defining moment in Missy Mazzoli’s operatic career. A Grammy-nominated composer described by The New York Times as ‘one of the more consistently inventive, surprising composers now working in New York’.

Scored for a striking chamber ensemble that includes suspended acoustic guitars, Proving Up unfolds in a sound world that is at once intimate and disquieting, amplifying themes of fragility, endurance and loss. 

Explore the free digital programme 

Duration: 80 minutes, no interval

Tagged with: Opera Classical music

This production contains scenes involving rough physical handling of a minor, as well as the use of theatrical haze, strobe lighting and flashing lights. There will be depictions of violence and alcoholism, and use of stage blood.
Promoted by Guildhall School of Music & Drama

UK Premiere 
Composer Missy Mazzoli 
Librettist Royce Vavrek 

Based on a story by Karen Russell 

By arrangement with CHESTER MUSIC LTD trading as G SCHIRMER on behalf of G SCHIRMER INC

Creative Team

  • James Henshaw   conductor
  • Amy Lane   director
  • Anna Yates   designer
  • Toby Ison   lighting designer

Cast

  • Miles Zegner   Sebastian Hill
  • Mr Johannes ‘Pa’ Zegner   Twm Tegid
  • Mrs Johannes ‘Ma’ Zegner   Lowri Probert
  • Littler Daughter   Laura LeVoir
  • Taller Daughter   Miranda Kettlewell
  • The Sodbuster   Aidan O’Donnell
  • Peter Zegner   Kishore Walker

Milton Court Theatre

Location
Milton Court is located within the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and is approximately a 5 minute walk from the Barbican entrance on Silk Street.

Address
Milton Court,
Silk St, London
EC2Y 9BH

Public transport
The Barbican is widely accessible by bus, tube, train and by foot or bicycle. Plan your journey and find more route information in ‘Your Visit’ or book your car parking space in advance.