This year's Take Me Somewhere Festival showcased Skunk without k is Sun, an experimental opera solo work, created by U.K-based Swedish performer, artist and choreographer, Louise Ahl. It featured vivid sensory components with poetic audio description to create a three act opera that challenges ideas of blind accessibility, opera and storytelling.
Bespoke environmental scents—created by Clara Weale—were used alongside the audio description to transform and transcend the performative environment of each act.
Ahl said, "With this work, I am interested in using the often inaccessible art form of opera to subvert ideas of what opera is and who it is for. Audio description forms the very fabric and narrative of the work, describing movement, atmosphere and visual detail. The dramatic operatic delivery elevates it from existing purely as an access function into composed music. There are some additional unique elements to the work such as incredible giant textile paintings by Norwegian artist Anette Gellein, and bespoke environmental scents created by Scent Designer Clara Weale, which add layers of complexity and beauty to the audience experience. ”
