It scooped the Golden Lion at Venice and now the beach-set spectacular is bringing its burned-out workers and decadent globetrotters to the UK. But why does no one clap?
Drizzle falls from porridge-coloured skies as I hurry from the station to an abandoned gasometer on an industrial estate on the wrong side of Rotterdam. Inside, though, the sun never stops shining. I climb steps to a circular promenade and look down. Below, more than 20 holidaymakers are sunning themselves under cloudless skies. The beach may be fake, the sunlight artificial and the sartorial colour-coding unremittingly pastel, but at least seagulls won’t be dive-bombing to nick anyone’s picnic.
Welcome to Sun & Sea, the opera-performance devised by three women that, ever since it earned Lithuania the Golden Lion at the 2019 Venice Biennale, has toured Europe and America. It comes to London later this month, trailing rave reviews. The New York Times wrote: “Within a single hour of dangerously gentle melodies, [the work] manages to animate a panoramic cast of characters whose stories coalesce into a portrait of an apocalyptic climate crisis.”
