 It was performed in London at the Almeida Theatre on 14 July 2006, directed by Lindsay Posner, designed by Peter McKintosh, and conducted by Paul McGrath.The opera begins with Patsy Bear (spelled Bear in the libretto but spelled Blair in the character list), a middleweight boxer, punching leaves on a tree.Avril Ainger, a mathematics lecturer, encounters him while riding her bicycle and they have a conversation.