Groundbreaking hip-hop opera exploring Black British boyhood comes to Leeds New Opera Festival

A powerful new opera exploring Black identity, boyhood, friendship, and survival is coming to Leeds this November as part of the Leeds New Opera Festival 2026.

Created by TD Moyo, Renell Shaw, and April Koyejo-Audiger, Our Eyes Looking for God will run at the Leeds School of Arts at Leeds Beckett University from November 5 to 7.

Presented by the Barbican Centre and Northern Opera Group in collaboration with Leeds-based Black cultural agency Nubian Noire, the production blends opera, rap, hip-hop, and performing arts to challenge traditional expectations of the operatic form.

Based on TD Moyo’s play Caspers, the story follows two cousins, Adjani and Kamal, on their journey to a party in Toxteth.

What begins as an ordinary night out unfolds into a thought-provoking exploration of cultural identity, aspirations, and the social realities shaping young Black British lives.

“Our Eyes Looking for God creates an important space for Black British stories and lived experiences to be seen, heard and understood through an exciting contemporary art form,” says Dionne Edwards, Black Cultural Programme Curator and Producer at Nubian Noire.

“This production challenges expectations of opera while bringing contemporary Black experiences to the stage in a way that is relevant, thought-provoking, and accessible to new audiences.”

The production arrives in West Yorkshire following critical acclaim, with The Guardian praising it for capturing “the spirit of opera – its fluidity, extremity and larger-than-life gestures.”

Catch Our Eyes Looking for God at Leeds School of Arts from Thursday 5th to Saturday 7th November 2026 as part of the Leeds New Opera Festival - tickets are available through the Leeds New Opera Festival website.