Opera Philadelphia

PAPER TIGER

World Premiere
Music, Text, and Sound Production by Yaz Lancaster

PAPER TIGER, the latest Digital Commission for the Opera Philadelphia Channel, is a 12-minute digital opera composed by Black transdisciplinary artist Yaz Lancaster, performed by vocalists Eliza Bagg and Miss Grit and pianist Mary Prescott, with a film directed by Sean Pecknold.

In PAPER TIGER, Yaz reflects on nearly a decade of their identity as a queer person of color. The film is an emotional journey through a day in the life of a fictional character, performed by lead dancer Megan Doheny. Through expressive dances and abstract sets, the film explores a range of emotions along the twisting path of finding the strength to be oneself. 

Available at youtube.com 

Watch Play

PAPER TIGER video

MapYouTube

Approximately 12 minutes

Cast & Creative Team

Yaz Lancaster
Yaz Lancaster *Music, Text, Sound Production
Sean Pecknold
Sean Pecknold *Filmmaker
Eliza Bagg
Eliza BaggPrimary vocals
Miss Grit
Miss Grit *Secondary vocals, appears courtesy of Mute Artists Limited
Mary Prescott
Mary Prescott *Piano
Megan Doheny
Megan Doheny *Lead Dancer
  • Sarah Williams Creative Producer
  • Ash Marshall Producer
  • Adi Goodrich Production Designer
  • Toogie Barcelo Choreographer
  • Travis Waddell Director of Photography
  • Courtney Cooper Art Director
  • Tyler Neidermayer Sound Engineer, Additional Production
  • John Kilgore Recording Engineer
  • Maggie Canady, Orlando Agawin, Baylie Olsen, Riley Higgins, Josie Anders, Justin Porter Dancers
  • *Opera Philadelphia debut
Yaz Lancaster

The Composer

Yaz Lancaster

Yaz Lancaster (they/them) is a Black transdisciplinary artist. They are most interested in practices aligned with relational aesthetics & the everyday; fragments & collage; and liberatory politics.

Yaz performs as a violinist, vocalist & steel-pannist in a wide variety of settings; and their work is presented in many mediums & collaborative projects. It often reckons with specific influences ranging from politics of liberation & identity to natural phenomena & poetics. Their ongoing independent studies navigate politics/poetry of horror, Marxist theory, and digital (sub)cultures. Their writing (both creative and journalistic) appears in various online & in-print publications including I CARE IF YOU LISTEN, Afternoon Visitor, the tiny, and Underblong, where their poem “Ratios” was awarded the 2021 Blongprize.

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