Bare Opera will present a new experimental opera based on Franz Kafka’s Odradek. The world premiere will be directed by Malena Dayen, conducted and composed by David Rosenmeyer, designed by Sangmin Chae and choreographed by Troy Ogilvie. This is an original piece that combines opera and dance with interactive technology. Playing with the text of Kafka’s The Cares of a family man as well as poems by Avot Yeshurun, The Presence of Odradek explores the absurdity of daily life, the presence and meaning of the surreal in the human experience.

David Rosenmeyer created the piece for soprano, mezzo, tenor, and baritone voices, a chamber orchestra, and pre-recorded material. Recorded improvisations by singers around the world and Lotte Lenya’s recorded telling of Kafka are combined with live performances in a beautiful and evocative score.

After her consecutive sold-out productions of Piazzolla’s Maria de Buenos Aires and Don Giovanni, Malena Dayen returns to Bare Opera for her third and most significant production - an immersive world premiere that challenges the idea of what opera can be.

Technology and video artist Sangmin Chae designed a performance where projection tracking allows the audience to experience magical creatures moving around the performance space and holographic images reflecting the theme of absence throughout the piece.