A co-commission and co-production withAldeburgh Music and Opera NorthThe Commission. Café Kafka.Elspeth Brooke and Francisco Coll, present their debut operasElspeth Brooke was Composer in Residence at The Royal Opera in the 2012/13 Season, where her projects included a multi-media installation on Verdi’s famous ‘Va, pensiero’ chorus as part of the Deloitte Ignite Festival 2013. She brings that same passion for cross-platform collaboration to The Commission, created with innovative director Annabel Arden, co-founder of Complicite.Francisco Coll, a protegé of Thomas Adès, has been widely acclaimed for his fierce originality and uniquely expressive palette. In Café Kafka Coll and librettist Meredith Oakes construct an unsettling world, built from texts and fragments by Franz Kafka.The Commission was originally devised by Elspeth Brooke, Jack Underwood and Ellie ReesDirectorAnnabel ArdenDesignsJoanna ParkerLighting designMatt HaskinsSound designPete MalkinVideo designDick Straker