Having Guests for Dinner

2024

Opera

Details

Program Notes

Having Guests for Dinner serves up a delightful and dark comedy about interpersonal connection, and cannibalism in the modern world. When Marcus and Laura arrive at their friend's coworker's house for a dinner party, things take an unexpected turn for the macabre. Over the course of the dinner, the couple becomes increasingly suspicious that their elegant host, Christoph, is actually a cannibal. Their suspicions get the best of them, and they resolve to find out the truth. However, curious guests make the best food!

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My favorite is 'Having Guests for Dinner', with music by Nicholas Bentz and a libretto by Robert Ellsworth Feng. What begins as an ordinary dinner gathering quickly unravels into deliciously dark comedy, packed with clever twists, razor-sharp humour, and an irresistibly absurd premise. It feels perfectly suited to the format of the festival; marrying theatrical wit with an inventive score while proving that opera can be every bit as funny as it is dramatic.

Broadway World