· Grammy-nominated composer Missy Mazzoli and Pulitzer Prize-winning librettist Royce Vavrek both lost immediate family members to drug overdoses. Now we are joining forces with Opera Ventures Productions to bring their opera about it to the world stage.
The Galloping Cure, premiering at the Edinburgh International Festival this August, tells its story through a darkly seductive allegory: a mysterious carousel that arrives in a struggling rural town, promising to eliminate all pain. The first ride is free. Getting off is much harder.
Conducted by Stuart Stratford and directed by Tony Award-winning Tom Morris (War Horse), the production reunites the creative team behind Breaking the Waves, the 2019 Edinburgh International Festival hit that toured internationally to critical acclaim. They have collaborated with Opera Ventures Productions and us to create what they are calling an opera for the age of addiction.
It is co-commissioned with NorrlandsOperan AB (Sweden, supported by Riksbankens Jubileumsfond), Edinburgh International Festival, and San Francisco Opera. The production will be co-produced with State Opera of South Australia and Canadian Opera Company, ensuring the work reaches audiences worldwide. This unprecedented international coalition of funders spans three continents to back a brand-new work tackling one of the defining crises of our time.
Missy Mazzoli said: ‘The opioid crisis is not merely a headline for me and Royce; we have both lost immediate family to overdoses and other drug-related tragedies, and this crisis reverberates through nearly every aspect of our lives.
‘For years we have wanted to write a work about these experiences, and opera provides a large enough palette to create something that is both compassionate and illuminating.’
Tom Morris said: ‘Missy and Royce are Titans of the 21st century operatic stage. They take no prisoners and will tear up trees to show the world that opera can tell powerful, horrifying, tender stories that resonate to the core of our age.
‘The Galloping Cure is exactly that and it is a huge honour to work with them on its world premiere production. And it’s not just an allegory about the opioid crisis. It’s a story about existential pain and the allure of shallow instant solutions. Inspired by texts from Kafka and Karen Russell, they have created a world that is both mythic and brutally recognisable. Their visceral operatic language allows us to hold beauty and horror in the same moment, and to struggle with the compulsions caused by both.’
The story follows Dr Theresa Hart as she struggles to ease the suffering of her community in a forgotten corner of the world. When the charismatic Lucky Mack arrives with his carousel, the town is swept into euphoria. But the ride won't stop turning.
Mazzoli's score blends orchestral and choral writing with club rhythms and DJ textures, creating what she describes as ‘a dark parallel to our own world, devastating and gorgeous in equal measure. Swirling brass and winds mesh with exaggerated house music beats, Appalachian folk sounds unite with orchestral strings, and operatic vocals soar over a hallucinatory landscape.’
Leading stage designer Rebecca Ringst matches the ambitious score with cutting-edge immersive audiovisual design evoking a post-industrial town transformed into a fever dream.
Scottish Opera Music Director Stuart Stratford added: ‘Missy Mazzoli’s music has an immediacy that connects with contemporary audiences while remaining deeply operatic. After the success of Breaking the Waves, we knew we wanted to continue our partnership with her. This score is thrilling to conduct. It moves between intimate moments of devastating beauty and these massive, visceral soundscapes that put you right inside the experience of addiction. Working with Opera Ventures and our international partners allows us to take risks on work this ambitious.’
The cast is led by Argentinian mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack in her Scottish Opera debut as Dr Theresa Hart, alongside baritone Justin Austin (Rising Star of the Year at the 2024 International Opera Awards) as Lucky Mack, and Susan Bullock as Ivona Kowalski. They are joined by our Emerging Artists Edward Jowle and Luvo Maranti, and former Emerging Artists Catriona Hewitson, Lea Shaw, and Ross Cumming. The role of Noy is yet to be announced.
The production is inspired by Franz Kafka's 1917 short story A Country Doctor and based on an original tale by Pulitzer Prize finalist and MacArthur “Genius Grant” recipient Karen Russell.
Performances of The Galloping Cure are on 9, 11 and 12 August. www.scottishopera.org.uk/shows/the-galloping-cure/
Trailer available here The Galloping Cure 2026 | Teaser