Rocking Horse Winner
Drama
L-R Keith Klassan, Peter McGillivray, Asitha Tennekoon, Lucia Cesaroni, Photo by Dahlia Katz.
“There must be more money”
Winner of five Dora Mavor Moore Awards, including Outstanding Production and Outstanding Direction, Rocking Horse Winner is a modern adaptation of D. H. Lawrence’s masterful short story.
This is the story of Ava and her son Paul. Their house and an old rocking horse whisper words only Paul can hear. When the voice of the house grows more urgent in whispering, “There must be more money,” Paul enlists his lucky rocking horse to tell him the names of live horse race winners. He begins betting with great success, but each win comes at an enormous cost.
This powerful one-act opera combines magical realism and lyrical minimalism to offer an intimate, psychological look at love, luck, greed, and obsession.
Drama- One Act, 60 mins – 3 men, 1 woman, 4 chorus members
Production History
Directed by Michael Mori, Rocking Horse Winner was first produced by Tapestry Opera and Scottish Opera, 2016
Manitoba Underground Opera, May 2024
Crows Theatre/ Tapestry Opera November, 2023
Maine Opera, 2023
Opera Louisianne (Baton Rouge), 2022
Saratoga Opera/ NY, 2018
Reviews
Rocking Horse Winner is a winner – a finely executed gem
Chatterton’s libretto – spare and economical, with enough theatricality for its audience to hang onto.
-Globe and Mail
Librettist Anna Chatterton realizes the elegance, subtlety and subtext in D. H. Lawrence’s short story, and creates a story as gripping.
-The Slotkin Letter
Librettist Anna Chatterton did an exceptional job of adapting this short story, using key lines from the original manuscript for the repetition that is characteristic of operatic arias, duets, and ensembles.
-Mooney on Theatre
Dora Award-winning playwright Anna Chatterton provided a fantastic adaptation of Lawrence’s original text.
-Schmopera
Rocking Horse Winner is included in the libretto anthology When Words Sing, published by Playwrights Canada Press