U-29

a new horror opera by Roan Shankaruk

Join our crew

Perhaps you will survive to tell our story while the rest of us are carried down, down to the ocean floor

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"What does a steamer look like after sinking six or eight thousand feet? What happens to boats like ours when they can no longer keep from drowning?"

U-29 chronicles the mysterious final days of a WW1 U-boat and the crew who manned her. Inspired by the Lovecraft story The Temple – itself inspired by a particularly chilling myth of Dionysius – the story takes place entirely inside the submarine. After a cruel periscope battle, the men on the boat are sure that they are cursed. Crew-members fall ill, suffer from terrible dreams, and hear the eerie calling of dolphins, all while the U-29 seems to have a mind of its own, following unknown currents, and descending impossibly deep to rest on the ocean floor.

Opera Unbound is excited to work with composer Roan Shankaruk to commission, develop, and ultimately premiere this groundbreaking work.

The opera will feature gender-flexible casting with the option for each role to be sung in multiple octaves as best suits the singer.

Support the development of this new opera

We are hosting a musical workshop of the complete opera in 2027. Our hope is to fully produce U-29 the following season — donate to help make this premiere possible!

2025: U-29 vocal workshop

Four singers joined us for a three-day vocal workshop, to explore U-29’s gender-flexible approach to vocal writing.

Child sitting at a grand piano, playing the keys, with a tablet and a notebook on the piano lid.
Two young adults, a woman and a man, stand behind music stands with sheets of music, in a room with beige walls. The woman is wearing a brown checked blazer, a black top, and has dark wavy hair. The man is wearing a beige jacket, black shirt, and bro
A woman with short red hair wearing a brown plaid suit, standing next to a music stand, seemingly singing or speaking, with a red chair nearby.
Group of five people on stage, reading scripts at music stands, with chairs and curtain in background.
Two people reading sheet music, standing behind music stands, in a dimly lit room.
A woman looking down at a music stand, wearing a beige knitted sweater and tan pants in a room with a brown background.
A woman with short red hair wearing a beige checkered blazer and yellow earplugs, standing in a theater or auditorium with red seats.
A woman with long, curly hair and earrings, smiling and looking at a laptop screen, sitting at a table with a drink, a soda can, and multiple laptops.

2023: IndieFest

Presented by Re:Naissance Opera

Early excerpts from Act I of the opera were shared at the 2023 IndieArtist Cabaret, held at the Fox.

Ubyssey Feature
Young woman performing on stage under blue spotlight, gesturing with her hands, with a microphone stand nearby.
Two young women on stage, one with long wavy hair and dressed in a white shirt and light-colored pants, looks concerned. The other, with glasses and dark hair tied back, is wearing a green jumpsuit and looking through binoculars.
Two women on stage, one in a military uniform with binoculars, the other in a white shirt, with a large screen behind them showing a silhouette of a person wearing a hat.
A woman performing in a theatrical production, illuminated by stage lighting, with a person partially visible in the foreground.