Grimeborn 2026: Murder Games – A Double Bill

Cupboard LovePhoto credit: Marc Gascoigne Continuing the 2026 Grimeborn Festival is The Opera Makers’ Murder Games: A Double Bill, featuring two modern pieces with a connection to killing. The first is Cupboard Love, with music by Madeleine Dring and libretto by D.F. Aitken – this follows an illicit meeting between She and He, dramatically interrupted by the appearance of a corpse (It) in the cupboard. Accusations fly as the couple attempt to identify what has happened to It. Following a short break, the second piece is Three Sisters Who Are Not Sisters, with music by Ned Rorem and libretto by Gertrude Stein (it is based on her 1943 play); when three orphaned girls (who see themselves as sisters by circumstance) meet two brothers, they embark upon their own murder games. But soon it’s hard to see the boundary between the game and reality itself – there can only be one left standing… Whilst there must be a temptation to go for the classic operas, or pieces by well-known composers, it’s…