Would you kill one man to save a billion others?
Gavrilo K believes he did, but for the murder of his country’s President he will now be tried and punished. The State’s chief psychiatrist must determine his sanity, but what she discovers makes her question her own.
Kevin Rodgers’ opera The Murderous Delusions of Gavrilo K, first premiered in 2025, explores violence and sanity in a two-act electroacoustic “neo-verismo” chamber work for four singers.
It is coupled with Arnold Schoenberg’s psychologically intense Erwartung from 1909 – one of “the great monuments of modernism” – performed in semi-staged format, featuring Rodgers’ brand-new electronic re-orchestration of this rarely seen work.
Featuring visuals from some of Britain’s most exciting young video artists, Erwartung / The Murderous Delusions of Gavrilo K brings two powerful works together in a stirring double bill.
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Running time
2 hours (including interval) -
Age guidance
13+ -
Content warnings
Praise for previous productions
“A magnetic performance of wiry intensity by Quito Clothier... a spooky contemporary riff on the infamous assassin”– Opera Magazine, on The Murderous Delusions of Gavrilo K.
Production photos
The Company
Erwartung
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Anna Marmion
Die Frau
Anna Marmion
Die Frau
Anna graduated from the RCS Opera Studio, where she sang the roles of Queen of the Night and Vespina (L’infedeltà delusa), as well as Zerbinetta, The Vixen, Norina, and Thérèse (Mamelles de Tirésias) in scenes performances. Since then she has been working in Germany, including at the Aalto Theater in Essen. Previous roles include Emily Brontë (Grimeborn Festival), Musetta (La Bohème) and Suor Genovieffa (Suor Angelica) for Opera Greenwich, and several works at the Tête-à-Tête Festival, including Outlier (Josh Kaye). Anna has performed in concert with the London Mozart Players, and in numerous contemporary works, including Adams’ Grand Pianola Music with Colin Currie, and at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival. She also recently performed Strauss’ Brentano Lieder with Cambridge University Graduate Orchestra.
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Eddie Boyce
Actor
Eddie Boyce
Actor
Eddie Boyce is a performer who graduated with a BA in acting from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in 2022. By performing in this show at the Arcola Theatre, he is returning to the scene of his theatrical debut in which he played the lead character of Sammy in Michael Hasting’s Don’t Destroy Me in 2024 – to widespread critical acclaim. He will soon make his directorial debut with Penelope Skinner’s play Eigengrau at The Space Theatre later this month.
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Maisie Fawcett
Actor
Maisie Fawcett
Actor
Maisie is an actor, writer and born and bred Londoner. Recent credits include Flat Earth The Musical (Birmingham Hippodrome; Phoenix Arts Club), Say Less (Comanavago), ‘The Woods’ (Lydia the Bard), The Taylor Swift Cabaret (New Wimbledon Theatre) and LaplandUK. She is also currently writing a new musical after the success of her debut musical, Without (Underbelly; New Wimbledon Theatre).
This is Maisie’s debut in an opera!
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Lydia Swift
Actor
Lydia Swift
Actor
Lydia Swift is a dance artist and choreographer based in South East London. A graduate of Trinity Laban Conservatoire and London Contemporary Dance School, her interdisciplinary practice explores improvisation, phenomenology, surrealism and voice. Working across performance, choreography and collaboration, Lydia is interested in uncertainty, live decision-making and the relationship between body, memory and place. She is about to embark on PhD studies at UAL, researching distributed authorship in dance and performance.
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Anna Toogood
Actor
Anna Toogood
Actor
Anna is a performer and writer with an MA in Musical Theatre from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Her comedy cabaret Go With The Flow was performed at Riverside Studios and Zoo Venues to rave reviews and sell-out audiences last year. She most recently worked on Up and Coming with BIFA-qualifying filmmaker Thomas Bugg. She is excited to be treading the boards in Erwartung, as this will be her first experience working on an opera!
The Murderous Delusions of Gavrilo K
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Quito Clothier
Gavrilo K.
Quito Clothier
Gavrilo K.
Quito is made his debut at The Grange Festival in 2025 in Verdi’s La Traviata with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. This summer, he returns to the Grange to cover Lensky in Eugene Onegin, is a Rising Star at the Edinburgh International Festival, and graduates from the RCM, where he studies under Patricia Rozario OBE. Quito will be moving to Vienna to join the Wiener Staatsoper this autumn.
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Elizabeth Marshall
Dr. Sunderland
Elizabeth Marshall
Dr. Sunderland
Soprano Elizabeth Marshall’s artistry was described as ‘entrancing’ by Kieron Quirke in The Evening Standard. She trained at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Munich and the Theaterakademie August Everding, The Royal Conservatory of The Hague and The University of York.
Elizabeth has created a number of roles in new opera: the role of Isabella/Rosine in Der Teufel auf Erden; Ariane in Arianna, Ariadne, Ariane; as well as Doctor Sunderland.
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Anna Loveday
Nurse / Mother / Vision 2 / Prosecutor
Anna Loveday
Nurse / Mother / Vision 2 / Prosecutor
Anna has a Masters degree in singing and continued her opera studies in London. She has performed and toured with opera companies across the UK in roles such as Carmen (Carmen), Amneris (Aida), Eboli (Don Carlo), Lady Macbeth (Verdi’s Macbeth), as well as roles in contemporary operas.
In 2025 she played ‘Lady Jane’ in a performance of Patience which won the International G and S Festival overall prize.
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Olekseii Zasiadko
Institute Director / Vision 1 / Judge
Olekseii Zasiadko
Institute Director / Vision 1 / Judge
Ukrainian bass-baritone Oleksii Zasiadko toured with the Ellen Kent Opera Company in 2022, performing in Carmen, Tosca and Madama Butterfly. He earned his Masters degree at the Odesa National Music Academy and an Advanced Certificate at the GSMD in 2024.
Since 2023, Oleksii has been a soloist in the Songs for Ukraine project at the Royal Opera House appearing at Bradford Cathedral, Paul Hamlyn Hall and the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Cathedral.
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Jaymes Aaron
State Functionary
Jaymes Aaron
State Functionary
Primarily hailing from an acting background (training at City Academy London in 2009/2010), Jaymes has been increasingly venturing into the realm of opera and musical theatre.
Recent Theatre credits include: Lawrence (The Calendar Girls) with Mill Hill Musical Theatre Company; Torvald Helmer (A Doll’s House) and Sebastian (The Tempest) in Online Theatre Performances; Captain Crewe (A Little Princess, The Drayton Arms).
Recent Opera credits include: The Tales of Hoffmann (Brent Opera); The Elixir of Love (Southgate Opera); Marriage of Figaro (Harrow Opera).
Directing credits include: Consequences & The Book (KinkyFish Theatre Company @ The Space, Westferry Road); Little Shop of Horrors (Imperial Productions).
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Kevin Rodgers
Writer (The Murderous Delusions of Gavrilo K.) / Producer
Kevin Rodgers
Writer (The Murderous Delusions of Gavrilo K.) / Producer
Kevin Rodgers is currently fulfilling a Fellowship year at Guildhall School of Music and Drama, having completed his MComp (with Distinction) last year. His compositions have been performed in the Barbican, The National Gallery, The Courtauld Gallery and The Chapel of Brompton Cemetery, among other venues.
He is a trained singer (LTCL) and also records and performs experimental electronic music under the stage name Skyggefabrikk.
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Valeria Perboni
Director
Valeria Perboni
Director
Valeria is a singer, actress, and director with a BA in Opera Studies and an MA in Musical Theatre (DipRAM) from the Royal Academy of Music. She has performed internationally across stage and screen, (BBC, Barbican, Channel 4) and holds an MSc in Music Psychology and Neuroscience (Goldsmiths). Since 2018, she has expanded into directing theatre and immersive media. Her project The Synaesthesia Room was a Cannes XR Showcase finalist.
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Fabia Martin
Set Designer (Erwartung)
Fabia Martin
Set Designer (Erwartung)
Fabia Martin is a visual artist who studied at the Royal College of Art and the University of Manchester. Her background ranges from set design, film, digital design, to sculpture and technical supervision. Fabia now works within the realm of scenography and art direction for performance and installation works.
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Thomas Bugg
Set Designer (The Murderous Delusions of Gavrilo K)
Thomas Bugg
Set Designer (The Murderous Delusions of Gavrilo K)
Thomas Bugg is a London-based multidisciplinary artist, filmmaker and designer working across film, moving image, and design. He holds an MA in Information Experience Design from the Royal College of Art and a First Class BA in Graphic Communication Design with Creative Computing from Central Saint Martins.
Thomas’s work has been shown in a range of spaces, including Dutch Design Week, Iklectik Art Lab, and Corner 7 Gallery, with installations featured at the Silk Street Theatre (Barbican Centre) and the IRCAM Forum (Centre Pompidou). He was part of the creative team behind the Brighton Fringe production, Sitting in Silence, which won the Emerging Company Award in 2025 and will run at Summerhall as part of Edinburgh Fringe this August.
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James Levy
Lighting Designer
James Levy
Lighting Designer
James is a London-based lighting designer currently in his third year studying Theatre Technology at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama.
Recent lighting design credits include Thermodrama (Summerhall Arts), Opera Makers 2026 (Milton Court Studio Theatre), Frost Bite (The Union Theatre) and Trial and Error (The Old Bailey Courthouse). Alongside his design work, James regularly works across various theatres in London.
In 2026, James was awarded the Student Virtual Lighting Design Award at the Profile Awards. His work focuses on creating atmospheric, story-led lighting with a particular interest in lighting for new writing, opera and immersive performance.
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Xinyue (Sammi) Xing
Assistant Director
Xinyue (Sammi) Xing
Assistant Director
Xinyue (Sammi) Xing is a London-based theatre director and Assistant Director whose practice combines live performance, multimedia, movement and interdisciplinary storytelling. Originally from China, she holds an MA in Theatre Directing from Royal Holloway, University of London, where she studied under Katie Mitchell, and an MA in Theatre Practice from the University of Exeter.
Alongside directing, Sammi has developed extensive experience across stage management and technical theatre, working in sound, lighting and production on a range of professional productions in London’s theatre industry