For four voices, jazz quintet, orchestra and film

Conceived and Directed by Adrian Dunbar

T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land is widely regarded as one of the most important poems of the 20th century. Loosely following the myths of the Holy Grail and the Fisher King, it alludes riverine to a vast range of world literature, music and popular culture, leaving contemporary poetry in its wake.

Directed by Adrian Dunbar, with score by Nick Roth, the Unreal Cities staging of the poem is composed for four actors, film and jazz quintet - expanded for this performance to full orchestra in collaboration with the Guildhall Session Orchestra, conducted by John Harle. The piece was commissioned by the Happy Days Enniskillen International Beckett Festival 2015 with the permission of the T. S. Eliot Estate, becoming the only performance of the poem in its 100-year history to include musical accompaniment.

This Unreal Cities performance at the Queen Elizabeth Hall marks the first occasion that an Irish ensemble has headlined the EFG London Jazz Festival.