Eleanor is the Director for this production of Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s If I Were You with UCOpera.

27th & 28th March: The Bloomsbury Theatre, London: Tickets

UCOpera is delighted to welcome you to their 78th annual production, the European semi-professional première of If I Were You. Composed by Jake Heggie with libretto by Gene Scheer, If I Were You is a modern retelling of Faust, exploring powerful themes of power and identity, applicable to the contemporary and classical setting.

Based loosely on Julien Green’s novel Si j’étais Vous, If I Were You follows a young, disheartened writer, Fabian, as he navigates life, and love. In the opening scenes, a Faustian bargain is made between Fabian and Brittomara, a shapeshifting devil who takes the form of a seductive woman. Fabian is given the power to shift his identity from person to person, living their life instead of his own, but, if he ever chooses to return to his own body, the devil will reap his soul. In pursuit of love, he negligently abuses this power, leaving behind a trail of empty shells and human wreckage forcing him to decide if he should hide his identity forever, or die for love as himself.

Directed by Eleanor Strutt
Conducted by Matt Scott Rogers
Designed by Hannah Stanley

Performed in English with subtitles.