To protests and frayed nerves, Abomination: A DUP Opera by Conor Mitchell was given its world premiere at the Outburst Queer arts festival in Belfast in 2019. The work’s central character, Iris Robinson, is no fictional antihero but a former Democratic Unionist party politician, married to the former first minister of Northern Ireland. The opera’s verbatim text – grotesque language set to often tender, voluptuous music – is drawn from comments made by Robinson, a born-again Christian, and other DUP members expressing hatred of homosexuality. Robinson’s own extramarital affair, breakdown and suicide attempt have long fuelled gossip-columns in the region. To make opera out of such toxic ingredients was daring, but the work won ovations.
Last weekend, Abomination had its overdue English premiere, with three performances at the Southbank Centre. Shrill, unruly, mutinous, Mitchell’s 70-minute piece is a whirlwind stomp and canter through various operatic and cabaret styles, skilfully constructed and beautifully paced. One frustration at the Queen Elizabeth Hall was the overamplification. All the singers were miked, but Mitchell’s careful balance of voices and orchestration – the Belfast Ensemble, conducted by Tom Deering – felt quarrelsome, which was not the case in Belfast. It made the words hard to hear, though the meaning was always clear.
