Renegade Opera 2025

When people in power believe in conspiracy theories, how do we respond?

Set in a time reminiscent of the late 1500’s witch-hunting craze, Renegade Opera’s production of Waking the Witch, an immersive chamber opera with shadow puppetry and movement provided by Basement Stair Collective, examines the absurdity of power and evil by exploring what happens to the body and mind when a person betrays themselves and their community. A story of bodily and psychological disintegration, morality and reality become splintered as the role of Witch, Witchfinder and Jury shifts between audience and performer. The result? A world of moral collapse. 

Waking the Witch challenges both the audience and performers to ask themselves: What do we do in the face of evil? How do we respond? And, is complicity a choice?