Description
Reviewing the 2015 world premiere of composer Donnacha Dennehy and playwright Enda Walsh's opera 'The Last Hotel', the Guardian's Kate Molleson was smitten by a 'dark drama in which death hangs over every move- the titular hotel is a shabby establishment where guests go to kill themselves.' That description alone is all the listener needs to appreciate the visceral energy of the performances. Modern theatre has consistently pushed against boundaries of what constitutes 'opera' in the traditional western sense: The Last Hotel is firmly rooted in that vanguard, merging the grit and gall of experimental theatre and independent arthouse films with the crackling trajectory of post-classical chamber music.