The doubtful, destructive inner-monologue of a student is transformed into a very real and tangible, singing character. How can you escape the negativity of your own thoughts when they physically materialise in front of you? In a collaborative effort between MA Opera Director and librettist, Madeleine Brooks, and RWCMD composers, Natalie Roe and Ella Penn, 'The Imposter' is a short opera that explores the destructive qualities of Impostor Syndrome and the impact that this can have on daily life.
Whilst the narrative of 'The Imposter' is not necessarily autobiographical, Natalie says that the self-doubting tendencies caused by Impostor Syndrome, "especially in an arts college, is quite common. This is exactly why we wanted to bring awareness to it." Adding to this, Madeleine says, "I thought of writing about this subject after a friend said to me at college ‘Don’t we all just have impostor syndrome until we are successful enough not to’. I did a bit of reading about it, and watched some TED talks, and what I learnt gave me the structure for the opera. The simple characters were inspired by a Tina Fey quote; she says, ‘the beauty of the impostor syndrome is you vacillate between extreme egomania, and a complete feeling of: ‘I’m a fraud! Oh god, they’re
on to me! I’m a fraud!’
In the original Atmospheres festival, 'The Imposter' was to be performed on stage in the College's Carne Foyer, but when faced with the challenge of reimagining the premiere of their piece to fit an online format, the keen, creative minds of this trio quickly went to work to think of various alternatives. As a result, you can listen to 'The Imposter' on Atmospheres Radio on Sat 2 May 2:30 pm, and you will also be able to watch a final product of filmed footage with animation which is set to be released soon after Atmospheres! Watch this space!
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