Recently I attended a meeting which was somewhat unusual for your average Birmingham Friends of the Earth meeting, as we talked about art and activism and The Opera Group’s plans for combining them. I thought this sounded very exciting and original.
The Opera Group plans to perform a mini-opera to raise awareness to the public about environmentalism, our campaigns and what we do. By using various locations around Birmingham’s city centre, we hope to get plenty of passing trade. The street performance is entitled ‘Save the Diva’ where singers from the group will promote their campaign for the right to irresponsible consumption. It will begin small with a Birmingham FOE stall, then will build up with the entry of people singing and carrying a large banner. The singers will then compete with each other for the attention of the audience, and it will all come to an exciting clash – you’ll have to come along to see it in early June – check our website for details.
The Opera Group will also be performing a full-scale opera called “Seven Angels”, and the street opera provides a way of bringing this to different people’s attention.
I believe this to be a very clever and comical way to engage and influence the public and keep us in their minds for a long time.
Further Information
