Fanny & Stella's Last Day Out
dedicated to Derri
Opera Short
Cast
Fanny
Stella
Young Man
Beadle / Police Officer / Doctor
Stella's Mum
Low Voice Chorus
Baritone
Soprano / High Countertenor
Tenor
Bass-Baritone / Bass
Mezzo Soprano
Low Voices
Instrumentation
1.(=picc.)1.1.1 - 0.0.0.0 - 2 perc - pno - 1.1.2.2.1.
Duration
C.20 Minutes
Programme Note
Fanny and Stella, whose names were Frederick William Park and Thomas Ernest Boulton respectively, were two individuals in Victorian London known for challenging gender norms and societal expectations. They gained notoriety in the mid-19th century for their unconventional lifestyles and for openly defying the conventional gender roles of the time.
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Fanny and Stella were part of London's underground drag and queer community, often dressing in extravagant women's clothing and attending social events. In 1870 they were arrested and put on trial for "conspiring and inciting persons to commit an unnatural offence." The trial, marked by sensationalism and public interest, revealed details about their lives, relationships, and the hidden world of Victorian cross-dressing.
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Despite the social and legal challenges they faced, Fanny and Stella became symbols of resistance to gender norms in Victorian society. Their story reflects the complexities and struggles faced by individuals who defied societal expectations during a time when such expressions of identity were met with prejudice and legal repercussions.
Premiere Details
Librettist
Conductor
Director
Designer
Lighting Designer
Fanny
Stella
Young Man
Beadle / Police Officer / Doctor
Stella's Mum
Low Voice Chorus
Jessica Walker
Michael Rosewell
Bill Banks Jones
Sarah Booth
​Colin Eversdijk
Ted Day
Eyra Norman
Simon Mascarenhas-Carter
James Emerson
Anastasia Koorn
Benedict Munden, David Afzelius, Joel Robson, Gabriel Tufail Smith​
Recording
Reviews
To write in a Modernist fashion, include tonalist asides and set pieces, and to retain wit is no mean feat, but Dommett succeeds. A cross-dressing Ted Day as Fanny and Eyra Norman as Stella excelled, propelled by the stage’s riot of colour. The simultaneous juxtaposition of a tonal layer within a more atonalist aesthetic was magnificently negotiated
~ Opera Now
Dommett’s opera packed a great deal into its short time span and largely succeeded because of a masterly libretto by Jessica Walker that simply didn’t stray too far beyond the confines of what it was trying to achieve. Set within a single day, Fanny and Stella buy stockings, sing a parlour song, go to the theatre and then get hauled before Bow Street – and this all happens to the most riotous, playful and rollicking score that risked much and succeeded entirely in making it work. I wondered at the time whether Dommett’s focus on the piano would be a contestable issue with this opera, but their uses it so skilfully and with such panache it was a joy from first note to last.​
– this was high class opera with both pathos and humour and a score that matched it every bit of the way.
~ Opera Today