ROTTEN KID

A New Opera

A comic folk tale exploring the shadowy world between truth and lies, which becomes more and more seductive as the threat to survival looms large.

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Rotten Kid  is an opera in one act inspired by a Chinese folk tale. The action takes place in and around Mother’s house, where she lives with her son Rotten Kid, in a provincial town. Rotten Kid, now a young man, doesn’t remember his Father, who went away when he was very young. 

A frequent visitor to the town’s gambling den, Rotten Kid has been unlucky lately. When he gambles away Mother’s horse and their house, it’s time for radical action. He sets himself up as a Marriage Broker, determined to find a wealthy suitor for Mother, to rescue them from bankruptcy. Then an unexpected suitor turns up, and events take a new direction…