Operawire: Opera de Poche to Preview ‘The Rat Came Back’ This Weekend

Opera de Poche is set to present a preview video of Emily Anderson and Eva Fein’s “The Rat Came Back” on Saturday, May 23, 2020.

The opera tells the wild story of a cowboy, a shabby château, an American with more money than brains, a love triangle, and a rat that sings.

Per Anderson, “it was inspired by the true story of a large river rat who night after night invaded my sister’s kitchen, despite the frantic attempts of her husband to outwit him. Concrete, metal screen, trenches—nothing fazed him. He even at one point fashioned a tool out of tinfoil and sprang the door of a humane trap. He became something of a folk hero to admiring neighbors whose watchword each morning was ‘The rat came back!’

“In the opera version, the four characters entangle themselves in a Byzantine web of trickery, only to realize in the ensuing chaos that all they ever really wanted was each other. The basic theme, as in all my libretti, is this: Love one another. It’s pretty much all we have.”

The preview will take place via Zoom starting at 2 p.m. EDT with attendees getting an opportunity to speak with the artists and creators behind the work. Among those that will be involved with the preview are Lucie Mouscadet, Isabelle Fallot, Vincent Billier, Arnaud Le Dû, and Anne-Marie Podevin.

Opera de Poche was founded by Bernard Mouscadet and has performed at numerous unique venues over its 15-year history including industrial waste sites, seafood processing plants, and even 17th century cavalry stables. The company has also made several yearly tours to China.

For more information, click here.