Sirena. The Glitch.

In Homer’s Odyssey, the Sirens sing a song so exquisite and irresistible that any sailor who hears it is overcome with longing. Thus enchanted, the sailor steers his ship toward the source of the music, only to be wrecked on the rocky coast, where they perish.

In her 40-minute piece Sirena, composer, performer, and producer Kirsty Ferguson-Lewis aims to reimagine the myth from a feminist perspective in what the show’s blurb describes as “subversive contemporary opera”. Conceived during studies at Goldsmiths University and first seen in 2022, Ferguson-Lewis’s show blends voice, dance, and dreamy pop-infused electronic music with hints of performance art.

The week-long run at The Glitch forms part of the venue’s Vault Creative Arts programme and coincides with the launch of a studio recording of the show. Classically voice-trained Ferguson-Lewis is accompanied in the form of a Greek chorus by Italian actor and singer, Ilenia Cipollari and German-born musician and performer Franziska Böhm.

The trio’s costumes, long flowing sky blue robes wrapped around the body and held fast with belts of electric cord, hint at a Greek theme. A later addition adds dresses made from fishing nets. Beyond the visual clues any obvious connection with Homeric myth is hard to detect. These are decidedly up to date Sirens. In one song Ferguson-Lewis seems to be playing the part of an online sex-worker, selling a menu of services to a punter by the name Finance300. “Let me tell you about all the men I meet on the internet” she sings as she opens her laptop and starts a Zoom call. The chorus assures her she is “great at virtual kisses”.

Soon the character takes on the wealthy Finance300 as a sugar daddy “who is generous and good with his bank”. Inevitably “sweetness turns to sour” in fairly short order, leading her to lament, “I’m witness to my ancient sorrow”, though the exact nature of the ancient sorrow is not clear.

“It’s hard to date when your voice is a narcotic” she complains, but despite the encumbrance she has soon finds a boyfriend. “I’d rather kiss you than go to work” she tells us, a sentiment not necessarily restricted to feminists, one supposes. Other songs include one set in what seems to be a circus dressing room, another that appears to involve washing their robes at a laundry, and one that is sung in Latin.

Ferguson-Lewis has an attractive stage presence and a clear fresh tone to her voice, but the acoustics of The Glitch make it hard to catch many of the lyrics, adding to the piece’s occasionally impenetrable air. Still, the harmonies are lovely, the choreography works, particularly in the ethereal opening sequence, and the trio of performers have tremendous chemistry. As a feminist response to Homer the piece never quite emerges from its academic origins. As a collection of dreamy, electro tunes it is a pleasant enough way to pass the time.

Runs until 21 August 2025