Robin Moir and Liam Britten have been friends and collaborators since kindergarten. As kids, they worked on the same children’s theatre productions. Now, they’ve co-founded a theatre collective and will be mounting an original production at the Chester Playhouse in August.
Moir wrote an original folk opera called A Song for Hephaestus (Britten is credited as a composer on the project). The folk opera recounts the coming-of-age story of Hephaestus, a lesser-known Greek god who was initially cast out from Mount Olympus. He channels the pain from his struggles into creativity and self-discovery.
Moir has an extensive background in music, film, and theatre. Britten is a trained musician and teaches music in Mahone Bay. Moir describes a folk opera as a piece that “combines aspects of opera, folk music and musical theatre.” The singing itself is not operatic, but the “opera” part of the name refers to characters telling stories through song onstage. The genre takes techniques from Moir’s traditional music training and mixes it with folk music. “It’s more like a kitchen party,” says Britten.
Their theatre collective, Forged in Fable, will present the piece in August at the Chester Playhouse. They have already performed two previews (small snippets of the show) at Chicory Blue, and plan to do another preview before opening night. In terms of future productions with Forged in Fable, Moir and Britten have lots of big dreams.
The South Shore is lucky to have such innovative creators bringing community together to share theatre, storytelling, and music. Be sure not to miss this exciting summer production.
