FAQs
1.0
What is Gothpera?
Gothpera is a live rock opera about artificial intelligence, identity, and the people who think they own you. It takes the bones of George du Maurier’s Victorian gothic novel Trilby — the story of a young woman controlled by the manipulative musician Svengali — and transplants them into the age of AI, corporate takeovers, and a dead girl’s soul uploaded into a machine. It is performed live, continued on your phone, and ended by the audience. There are five possible endings. You won’t know which one you’re getting until you’re in the room.
1.1.
What makes it different to other theatre?
The stage is just one part of it. From the moment you buy a ticket, the Gothpera app pulls you into the story — fictional news alerts, corporate press releases, an obituary for a punk singer you’ll come to know well. By the time you arrive, you already have a side. During the performance, your phone becomes a second stage: augmented reality, alternative camera angles, live audience voting that shapes the ending. After the curtain, the busker outside is still playing. Hold up your phone and look. Most theatre ends when you leave the building. Gothpera doesn’t.
1.2.
Why Opera and not Musical?
Because the emotional register is operatic — grand, sweeping, unafraid of extremity. Opera is the form that has always taken feeling seriously enough to sing it at full volume. Love, obsession, betrayal, loss, identity, the moment a created being becomes more than her creators intended — these are operatic themes. A musical has dialogue and songs. Gothpera has music and consequences. The distinction matters to us.
1.3
How does the interactive element shape the story?
Through the Gothpera app, the audience interacts with the world of the show in real time — responding to social media threads, messaging characters in the story, voting as the narrative builds toward its ending. The app tracks the collective mood and choices of the room, and the story bends accordingly. No two performances are identical. The ending that plays out on your night is the one your audience made inevitable.
1.4.
What are the 5 different endings for Gothpera?
The endings are a closely guarded secret. But we can promise you we'll keep you guessing until the end.
1.5.
Is it all digital and A.I.? Is there real Human Talent?
Very much so. Gothpera employs human singers, performers, and musicians. The digital elements — holograms, augmented reality, the app — exist to extend and amplify what the human performers do, not replace them. The tension between the human and the digital is what the show is about. It would be a strange choice to resolve that tension by removing one side of it. The music was written by David Ford and Phil Ryan (both human). The concept was created by Myka England (very human). Trillb-e is the only one whose status is genuinely in question.
1.6
How can I get involved?
Easy, contact us on our contact page. We're eager to talk with collaborators, production companies, actors, singers, digital artists. Just drop us a line
1.7.
What inspired Gothera?
David Ford played Myka England some songs he and Phil Ryan had written for a stage musical based on Trilby. She heard in them something the original setting couldn’t contain — themes of manipulation, identity, the commodification of talent, the fight to remain yourself when powerful people have decided what you should be. She recognised the same themes in Blade Runner, in Black Mirror, in every story we’re currently living about AI and the people who build it. The Victorian gothic was a wrapper. Underneath it was a story about right now. Gothpera is what happened when the wrapper came off.
1.8.
Why do you call Gothpera an opera, rather than a musical?
Becuase Gothpera is all about that grand sweeping story-telling style and the heightened emotions that come from perpetual themes, love loss infatuation betrayal. Operas traditionally have that rich immersive vibe, and that's exactly what we're aiming for here, rather than the dialogue heavy or casual feel of a musical.
1.9
What is the Valer-e fund??
A portion of every Gothpera ticket, stream, and sale goes to The Valer-e Fund, which supports organisations working on digital creative rights for performers and artists in the age of AI. Voices are being cloned without consent. Likenesses are being replicated and monetised. The law has not kept up. The fund supports legal access, policy advocacy, and education for emerging artists — particularly those who cannot afford representation when their work is taken without permission. Valer-e is a fictional character. The people this happens to are not. The fund page has the full story.
2.0
Do I need a smartphone to enjoy Gothpera?
The full experience is designed around the app, and we’d strongly encourage you to have one. But Gothpera is first and foremost a live performance — the story, the music, the characters, and the emotional arc are all fully present on stage. The app extends and deepens the experience. It doesn’t gatekeep it. If you arrive without a phone you will still see a show worth seeing. You’ll just miss some of what’s happening on the other side of the wall.
2.1
How can i get involved?
We are actively seeking a producing partner, venue, or platform bold enough to give Gothpera its first stage. If you are a theatre director, producer, digital arts festival, or investor and something in these pages has made you sit forward — get in touch. We are also interested in talking to singers, performers, digital artists, and technologists who want to be part of building something genuinely new. The contact page is the door. We answer it.