A new opera, Our Eyes Looking for God, has opened at the Pit in the Barbican, London, blending rap, reggae and operatic arias to explore the "Black British experience". Created by writer-director TD Moyo and composer Renell Shaw, the production grew out of Moyo's grief over his brother's murder in south London and the wider anger following George Floyd's death, weaving personal and political threads into a tragic tale of two Liverpool cousins.

The libretto, written by April Koyejo-Audiger, follows cousins Adjani and Kamal through a final night of celebration and farewell before a violent tragedy, mixing everyday details with poetic language. Gamba Cole is singled out for his charismatic performance as Adjani, outshining Themba Mvula's stiffer Kamal, while the reviewer praises the show's inventive staging and musical fusion but argues it feels more like "theatre-plus" than a fully realised opera, lacking a final creative risk. The production runs at the Pit, Barbican, until 13 September.