Fiery and Explosively Operatic: The Queen In Me Opens NAC English Theatre’s 2023-2024 Season
 
An electrifying performance by Teiya Kasahara 笠原貞野 launches Nina Lee Aquino’s first season as Artistic Director

August 31, 2023 – OTTAWA (Canada) – NAC English Theatre is proud to open Artistic Director Nina Lee Aquino’s inaugural curated season with The Queen In Me, a spirited exposé of the opera industry, created and performed by interdisciplinary artist Teiya Kasahara 笠原貞野 (they/them).

As the crescendo of one of opera's most iconic arias approaches its peak, the Queen of the Night shatters our expectations, smashing the fourth wall and defying traditions with a captivating, genre-defying spectacle. In a whirlwind evening that blends biting drama with uproarious comedy, they call out the suffocating norms that have bound opera for centuries.

Accompanied by concert Pianist David Eliakis, Kasahara takes audiences through mesmerizing renditions of familiar arias from the giants of opera - Puccini, Donizetti, Verdi, Strauss, and Mozart – with commanding presence and sardonic narrative. The haunting refrains of La Bohème and the stirring heights of The Magic Flute become clarion calls for change, championing the countless women, trans, and non-binary talents overlooked in the annals of opera history. The Queen In Me is more than a performance; it's a daring challenge to envision a bolder, brighter future for opera and, by extension, our world.

Premiering in 2022 to rave reviews and sold-out performances, The Queen In Me has continued its successful run, including a tour to Northern Ireland as part in the Belfast International Arts Festival.

NAC English Theatre is thrilled to present this extraordinary multi–Dora Mavor Moore Award nominated production to Ottawa audiences, for a limited run of six performances.

THE QUEEN IN ME – SEPTEMBER 20 - 30, AZRIELI STUDIO

The NAC English Theatre presentation of the Theatre Gargantua/Amplified Opera/Canadian Opera Company/Nightwood Theatre co-production.

Creator and Performer Teiya Kasahara 笠原貞野; Co-Directors Andrea Donaldson & Aria Umezawa; Accompanied by Pianist David Eliakis; Set & Costume Designer Joanna Yu; Lighting Designer André du Toit; Projection Designer Laura Warren; Stage Manager Troy Taylor.

PERFORMANCE AND TICKET INFORMATION 

For more information and showtimes, please visit:  https://nac-cna.ca/en/event/33677

THANK YOU TO OUR PARTNERS 
 
The National Arts Centre Foundation would like to thank The Slaight Family Foundation and Official Hotel Partner Ottawa Embassy Hotel & Suites. Special thank you to the Dr. Kanta Marwah Endowment for English Theatre.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL ARTS CENTRE  
  
The National Arts Centre (NAC) is Canada’s bilingual, multi-disciplinary home for the performing arts. The NAC presents, creates, produces, and co-produces performing arts programming in various streams — the NAC Orchestra, Dance, English Theatre, French Theatre, Indigenous Theatre, and Popular Music and Variety — and nurtures the next generation of audiences and artists from across Canada. The NAC is located in the National Capital Region on the unceded territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation.  

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