A new Welsh rock opera written in Brecon is set to premiere at Theatr Brycheiniog on Friday 27th February! 

Greed The Rock Opera was written by Nigel Evans and recorded over 18 months, using nearly 30 Brecon singers, musicians and actors whose number include a nurse, a cab driver and a town councillor. Greed, the first ever activist rock opera, is a musical protest and reaction to bankers bonuses, big corporations, austerity and government cuts - a theme that brought the Brecon performers together.

Ex-Stranglers manager, Dai Davies has also called it the first ever ‘Facebook Opera’.

The rock opera was recorded during 2014, at night-time, in a disused storeroom above the local tack shop. The finished recording features hystrionic metal guitar work from joinery teacher Billy Strangward, narration from local cab driver David Luther Jones and rousing choruses from members of the Aberhonddu Male Choir.

A scaled back version of Greed The Rock Opera was roadtested live on audiences at Brecon Fringe Festival in August. Festival goers were in turn, enthusiastic and shocked.

Ex-journalist Evans says: “Greed is about the big bad world we live in but I’ve shrunk the world in Greed to make it easier to follow. It’s about hapless politicians in Abertaff and the evil bankers like Rotkin who control them. Greed is about the fake world we live in where 1% own 99% of the wealth. It’s about the debt controlled slavery system we’re manacled to called money. It’s a love story really.”

“It’s terrifying actually but quite exciting at the same time, when people like Owen Jones and Russell Brand talk about revolution. It’s inevitable though. The world has to change and that change begins with us.”

Greed The Rock Opera premieres at Theatr Brycheiniog, Brecon on Friday February 27 and continues at Redhouse in Merthyr on Friday March 20.

Call 01874 611622 for tickets or book online at www.brycheiniog.co.uk (Brecon)

Call 01685 384111 or go to www.redhousecymru.com (Merthyr)