Trial by Jury - Opera North Youth Company
“WS Gilbert’s starchy high court setting is updated in Emma Doherty’s fizzing new production… The Youth Company’s colourfully staged realisation aptly reflects the delightful absurdity of Gilbert’s plot.” - The Wharfdale Observer
The Sapling - Youth Opera Company at Royal Opera
“I saw Emma's production for the ROH Youth Opera Company of The Sapling and was impressed from beginning to end…It received a well-deserved standing ovation and effusive praise from everyone in the audience. It really was a triumph” - Elaine Kidd, Stage Director and Head of Jette Parker Artists Programme
Giant’s Harp - Scottish Opera
“All of the pupils and staff were blown away by it. It was so good.” - Deputy head at school in Glasgow
Clarières dans le ciel - Waterperry Opera Festival
“Performance and setting, on a two-tier wooden stage, were a delight… in a simple but effective rustic staging by Emma Doherty. Debussy described Boulanger’s music as “undulating with grace”. There’s nothing to add to that.” - The Guardian
Making Manchester
“Making Manchester is a brilliant, engaging piece of music and theatre, drawing on the authentic stories of the people that have brought themselves and their culture to Manchester and shared it with us. The level of performance and artistry from the creative team, as directed by the ideas, stories and artistic input of the young people, builds an engaging and moving picture of migration, as told through real, individual, human stories rather than a flat, shouty newspaper headline.” - Silent Radio
“The finale was one of the best anti-racist statements ever” - Audience Member
Pierrot Lunaire
“The craziest, most mental, intense, dark and passionate piece of art I’ve ever witnessed. Maddest night sober I’ve ever spent.”
- @GingerLoveGod
“Manchester Collective’s mission is to create radical, human experiences through music, for everyone. They certainly achieved that this evening. ★★★★★” - North West End
“Gripped by both the movement, sounds and words, Pierrot Lunaire was unsettling, at times uncomfortable, and yet thoroughly visceral and mesmeric. Manchester Collective and all involved can be safe in the knowledge of making one feel out of one’s comfort zone in a most edifying way.” - Get into this
“an imaginative and theatrically presented realisation of an iconic score” - Manchester Classical Music
“The Manchester Collective should be proud of what was an informative and provocative performance. While Pierrot Lunaire is a highly distressing, disturbing marriage of intense music and haunting poetry, there is something strangely comforting about it… this presentation of Schoenberg’s work is full-bloodied and, in these turbulent times of Brexit and Trump, is perhaps the ultimate soundtrack to the world of 2018.” - Number 9
Carmen
“BEAUTIFUL SINGING AND SUPERB DIRECTION. POIGNANT AND PERTINENT IN EQUAL MEASURE.” - Audience member
“Amazing production, incredible singers and brilliant direction. It was engaging, thrilling and emotional - everything you’d want in a performance.” - Audience member
“Thank you for guiding me through my first opera experience. From what I always assumed was an old-school thing, you brought it straight to me in 2018 (via the 1920s) with a bang. Good luck for any future show!” - Audience Member
An Evening of Puccini
“There was clearly a unanimous reaction from the crowd as they applauded with enthusiasm. Though I don’t know how many were already opera enthusiasts, I expect this performance has opened many minds to the opera. The Opera Shack are onto something special here and I would love to see more of this kind of thing in the future.” - Alex Pigott, The Mancunian