AN opera dedicated to a Suffragette heroine is set to receive its world premiere in Todmorden tonight thanks to an award winning composer.

An ambitious production has been drawn up by Tim Benjamin on Emily Wilding Davison, who was trampled to death by the King’s horse at the 1913 Derby.

Tonight ‘Emily’ begins a three-date run at Todmorden Hippodrome, Halifax Road, after months of rehearsals.

Tim, a graduate of the Royal Northern College of Music, said: “I became interested in the life of Emily culminating in the tragedy of her death and decided it would be an ideal vehicle for an opera, constructed entirely from historical sources.

“To date much has been written and broadcast about Emily’s life and death but nobody has put the event to music in the form of an opera. I decided the 100th anniversary would be an appropriate time to fill the gap.”

Not only does the production focus on her untimely demise but her record of public disobedience before the famous protest, including hiding in the Palace of Westminster during the 1911 Census and hunger strikes at Holloway Prison.

Her death, while attempting to pin flags for the Women’s Political and Social Union to the royal mount, forms the backbone of Act Two, alongside her later autopsy and inquest.

The title role has been taken by Stephanie Stanway, with Marc Callahan, Louis Hurst, Christopher Jacklin, Sebastian Charlesworth and James Claxton representing various arms of the law, politics, judiciary and media.

Support for the production has come from the Ralph Vaughan Williams Trust and the Performing Right Society.

The composer’s previous works have been performed by the London Sinfonietta and the BBC Philharmonic.