This is the story of Lali and Beng, a journalist and aid worker held captive. No one knows where they've been taken or if they are alive. Or, maybe their story is being broadcast to the world?

A story about intimacy, surrender, and the will to live.

Co-composed by Paola Prestini and Sxip Shirey with a libretto by Winter Miller adapted from her original play, No One Is Forgotten is a groundbreaking opera, fully designed to be delivered to its audience in the form of an immersive operatic radio play, an ‘invisible opera,’ using cutting edge immersive audio technology.  

Through the soundscape of foley arts, actors, electronics, cello, and classical vocalists, this is a world where the audience can experience storytelling purely through sound and their imagination. By creating a work that is delivered directly to you in an intimate and portable format, our goal is to invite you to close your eyes and open your imagination, and enter the world of Lali and Beng.

Inspired by true accounts of the plight of captured and detained journalists and aid workers, No One Is Forgotten originated as a play, described by Cynthia Nixon as “Completely riveting. Harrowing. And funny.” Samantha Bee “Unexpectedly hilarious,” and Gloria Steinam “A real tour de force.”

It has now been adapted into an operatic theatrical experience that promotes the message of strength, hope, and love. You will hear a story that is surprisingly funny, moving, and relevant.

Brought to you by Creative and Executive Producer Eve Gigliotti, Director and AI Design by Elena Araoz, Music Director Michelle Rofrano, AI Producer and Editor Jonathan Estabrooks, starring Kathleen Chalfant and Eve Gigliotti as Beng, and Amelia Workman and Kearstin Piper Brown as Lali, featuring world renowned cellist Jeffrey Zeigler, with foley arts and underscoring by Sxip Shirey and orchestrations by Paola Prestini.

The drama is divided between two actors and two vocalists to mine the duality of what it is to be physically held captive while emotionally escaping through music.  

This project is commissioned by The Dallas Opera, Emitha/Lexicon Classics, and Eve Gigliotti with generous support from The Henagan Foundation and our community of supporters.