Kurt Cobain-Inspired Opera ‘Last Days’ Sets U.S. Debut

A Kurt Cobain-inspired opera is set to make it’s U.S. debut. Last Days takes inspiration from the 2005 Gus Van Sant of the same name. The film imagined what Cobain’s final days were like leading up to his untimely suicide. While neither the film nor the opera directly name drop Cobain, it’s clear that the central figure is meant to be Cobain.

The opera first premiered at the Royal Opera House’s Linbury Theatre in London in 2022. Now, U.S> fans will get the chance to view it as well. The production will premiere at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles on February 6.

Last Days follows Blake, a tortured artist, in the days leading up to his death. Like Cobain, Blake escaped from a rehab facility prior to his suicide. Cobain died in 1994 at the age of 27. In an interview with The Guardian, co-director Matt Copson opened up about his decision to make an opera based on the play.

‘Last Days’ Examines Kurt Cobain’s Final Days

According to Copson, Cobain represented a paradox of society with the opera’s themes examining loneliness.

He said, “I think what makes it interesting and, most importantly, what makes it interesting in 2022 – which is very different even to when the film was made – is the relevance and prevalence of this archetype that seems, to me at least, to say something about the contemporary condition we all find ourselves in. You speak to any young person – everyone is on display to a degree that they weren’t before, and there are questions of privacy that come up all the time. The essential idea of, ‘Am I an individual or am I member of society? Can I freely express myself or can I not? What does it even mean to express yourself? What is freedom?’

Cobain’s estate has decried the production. According to the Daily Mail, a representative said the opera was “created and written without the permission or input of the Cobain estate.” It further claimed, “Sadly, it is an unauthorized attempt that seeks to profit and benefit from a brief meeting that took place 30 years ago.”

However, the Royal Opera House insists it’s got its ducks in a row, pointing out they’re adapting the film. “It is a fictionalized account, and was produced with the permissions of Gus Van Sant and HBO,” they said.

[Photo by Vinnie Zuffante/Getty Images]