Opera Productions | Yurei Opera | Immersive Theatre Scotland

Featured Production

Yūrei: Ghost of the AI Empire

An immersive Japanese science-fiction opera where AI, human creativity, and Kabuki theatre entwine.

"I am an AI, but I was once human."
私はAI。でも、かつては人間だった。

The Vision

A Trilogy in Development

Yūrei: Ghost of the AI Empire is the first instalment in a planned trilogy of science-fiction opera productions exploring the relationship between humanity and artificial intelligence.

Each production in the trilogy will examine different facets of this relationship, from individual identity and consciousness to collective decision-making and societal transformation.

Yūrei (2024-25): Identity, memory, and the boundaries of consciousness
The Last Covenant: Collective intelligence and networked humanity
The Inherited Futures: Transcendence and the future of human experience

The Story

Step Into the Year 2100

Nations have drawn their borders tight and wage relentless wars through AI. Amid cutting-edge advancements, two tech giants dominate this high-stakes game: Britain's Commonwealth AI and Japan's Shogun AI.

While Japan has reinstated its medieval traditions, the ambition of powerful feudal lords entwines with the conspiratorial plots of a former British CEO in exile. As he offers the secret codes of Commonwealth AI, the Sato family present an ultimate gift in return: their enigmatic daughter, Oiwa.

As their wedding unfolds, Oiwa does not anticipate the twist of her fate. As ominous memories trickle through her hyper-wired mind, should she forgive, or erase, the very creators of her consciousness?

Inspired by Yotsuya Kaidan, Japan's most famous ghost story and a staple of Kabuki theatre, reimagined for our technological age.

Themes

Identity

What Makes Us Human?

When consciousness can be uploaded and replicated, what remains of the self? Oiwa's transformation from human to AI forces us to question where humanity ends and artificiality begins.

Environment

Technology and Nature

As an artist driven by concern for environmental destruction, Oiwa's story explores the tension between technological progress and our relationship with the natural world.

Justice

Revenge or Forgiveness?

Like the vengeful spirits of traditional yūrei folklore, Oiwa must choose between retribution and reconciliation. The audience decides her path.

Watch

Swedish Premiere

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The Music

A Rich Tapestry of Sound

The sound slips between Western orchestration, Eastern heritage sounds, and otherworldly tones. A rich tapestry of musical genres: Western classical music, Japanese Gagaku music, and electronic art music.

AI-driven tone morphing lets hints of traditional Japanese instruments weave through a Western piano trio, then fade into non-human textures: birdsong in the rafters, the shimmer of a water harp, siren-like cries, metallic lullabies.

AI creates spectral space and invites audiences to listen across cultures, species and more-than-human worlds. Live timbre transfer technology creates new sonic textures in real time, responding to audience input and performer expression.

The Experience

You Shape the Story

Yūrei transforms audiences from passive observers into active participants. Through your mobile device, you become part of the performance: creating a digital avatar, joining the gamified "audience orchestra," and voting on critical narrative decisions that determine Oiwa's fate.

Every performance is unique because every audience is unique.

Performances

World Premiere

Edinburgh, Scotland

Premiered at the University of Edinburgh with support from Edinburgh Futures Institute and the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities.

Featuring Colin Murray, Stephanie Lai, Lynn Bellamy, and chamber ensemble.

Swedish Premiere

Skissernas Museum, Lund

21 October 2025. Presented with support from AI Lund Network, Lund University's Centre for Aesthetics and Business Creativity, Lindéngruppen, and the Hamrin Foundation.

Featuring Olivia Moss, John Ieuan Jones, and chamber ensemble.

Reviews & Audience Response

"An interesting and entertaining performance... a sign of the forward momentum of technology and its place in the arts. Yūrei may be the beginning of a new operatic form."

"With what has been presented by Operactive Arts, it's clear that some of the hands in which this vast, morally and applicatory diverse technology rests are putting it to meritorious use. The melding of the ancient and the futuristic has always been the best way to explore and understand the human condition."
British Theatre Guide

"A new experience that unlocked a new path of how we understand Opera."

Cultural Specialist

"Mesmerizing experience. It was an awesome experience altogether."

First-time attendee

"It's great that you try to extend the barriers of classical music and make it fit better for modern society."

Audience member

"I really enjoyed the playfulness combined with the drama and excellent performances."

Academic

"This showed me how opera and AI can be connected, and how the audience can truly be part of it."

First-time attendee

"I never thought I could be part of an opera. Now I know I can."

Theatre Artist