Coming Up for Air (2025)
(Opera)

Coming up for Air connects three lives across the flow of time. Anouk, a writer, suffers from cystic fibrosis and fights for every breath. She is soon to receive a vital lung transplant that will allow her to breathe again. Whilst researching, she comes across the mysterious story of L'Inconnue de la Seine (The Unknown from the Seine). Little by little, she uncovers the background to this French tragedy and realises how closely the lives of the two women are connected. And with the life of a Norwegian puppet maker: after his son drowns in a tragic accident, he develops a puppet that can be used to learn mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. When it comes to giving it a face, he chooses the death mask of the Inconnue de la Seine.

The plot of the opera spans different time periods and locations, with the characters' stories intertwining and influencing each other.

Coming Up for Air is based on the novel of the same name by Sarah Leipciger and has been critically acclaimed for its sensitive portrayal of the human experience and its profound reflections on life, death and the pursuit of hope and meaning.

Coming up for air is a touching opera about three fascinating characters, about the flow of time, the air we breathe and the blessing of life.