Adelina the Jester is the title of a musical production that premiered in Austin, Texas in 2024. The libretto is by playwright Katie Bender and the music by composer Andrew Grainger.
About Adelina the Jester
What compelled us to create this work? We were fascinated by the story of Adelina, the only woman listed in the Domesday Book (C.E. 1086, see below) as holding the job of court jester. We couldn't let her existence fade into the past. Instead, we wanted to introduce her to a 21st-century audience and at the same time show that some of the problems and heartbreaks of the medieval world are with us today. We know very little about her, except that she owned land in her own name and that she plied her trade at the court of Earl Roger de Montgomery. More is known about Earl Roger than about Adelina, but it is her uniqueness as a female jester that inspired this work.
Soloists sing the roles of Adelina, Earl Roger, King William II, and Fitzhugh. Only Fitzhugh is fictional. A chorus fills the roles of peasants, courtiers, and other English folk. A small orchestra made up of lute, harp, Baroque guitar, recorder, organ, and percussion provides accompaniment and musical interludes. Adelina the Jester can be staged either as an opera or as a chamber oratorio. If produced as an opera, all the singers are very active on stage. If as a chamber oratorio, the singers perform in concert format before music stands. In this version, each of the soloists is paired with a contemporary dancer, who, as something like an avatar, expresses each soloist’s emotions. The dancers also help propel the narrative.
Two remarkable artists combined their talents to bring Adelina to life. Andrew Grainger is the composer, and Katie Bender is the playwright/librettist. Read their biographies on The Team page.
In all of England in the year 1086 C.E., only one woman was working as a court jester. Her name was Adelina, and we know about her because she appears in the Domesday Book, the compendium of the English people and their property commissioned by William the Conqueror. However, we know little about her, except that she was employed by Earl Roger de Montgomery, and she owned land in her own name. Adelina’s possible life as a jester, her connection to Earl Roger and his participation in the Rebellion of 1088, and how she may have come to own her land form the basis for the plot of Adelina the Jester.