Opera being composed on Twitter

The Royal Opera House is to stage an opera created through social networking site Twitter.

Members of the public have been invited to submit their "tweets" online - messages of up to 140 characters - which will form the new libretto.

The first scene of the as-yet-untitled work has already been completed and features a man who has been kidnapped by a group of birds.

Excerpts will be performed at the Royal Opera House in September.

The opera will be set to original music by composer Helen Porter along with some more familiar opera tunes.

'Your opera'

The opera will be performed for the public in September

The project was launched as part of the Royal Opera House's (ROH) Ignite season and aims to get more people involved in the creative side of opera.

Alison Duthie, head of ROH2 said: "It's the people's opera and the perfect way for everyone to become involved with the inventiveness of opera as the ultimate form of storytelling.

"Expect the unexpected - who knows how the story will evolve, but get tweeting and you can play your part in your opera."

The Royal Opera House blog gave a precis of Act One, Scene One: "William is languishing in a tower, having been kidnapped by a group of birds who are anxious for revenge after he has killed one of their number.

"Hans has promised to rescue him. The Woman With No Name is off to her biochemistry laboratory to make a potion to let people speak to the birds."

Contributions can still be made to the libretto on ROH's Twitter feed.

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