In July, the Camerata Xara young women’s choir has been invited to perform at Festival 500, a biennial international choral festival held in St. John’s, Newfoundland. This past Saturday, Xara previewed “Played”, the program they will perform there. It’s a one-hour, three-act journey that sees young women grow from separate, busy lives to a joyful sisterhood with the help of a supernatural “trickster” who is represented by Will Perkin’s glorious light design. As usual, the sound of Xara is exquisite, but the theatrical quality of the program and the intricacy of the movement bring this show to a whole new level of choral experience. As an extra visual treat, local painter/mixed media artist Sarah Irwin has created something quite special from the humble pillow case. There’s no doubt that Xara will make Nova Scotia proud at Festival 500 with this show.
This article appears in May 12-18, 2011.