The Creators Project: Bringing the controversial subject of marriage with multiple wives to a refined art form is Dark Sisters, a contemporary opera now set to take the stage in Vancouver. Written by the young, New York-based composer Nico Muhly, the two-hour performance follows a woman belonging to a fundamentalist sect of The Church of Latter Day Saints (FLDS). Discussing both polygamy and individuality in modern day America, Eliza attempts to leave her marriage to a "Prophet" and save her daughter from forced matrimony.
7 comments:
Disregarding the subject matter for a minute, I'm really happy to see new forms of opera being produced and seen by the general public. While many pieces in the opera canon are considered classics, it can be hard for modern audiences to relate to them. Yes, Mozart talks about themes are are heavily prevalent in today's society, but the subject matter is so far removed from the present population at time, it makes connecting with the production difficult. With Vancouver's new production, it's taking an art form that should be preserved and breathing new life into it. Art is what connects our society to the world around us, and this opera is no different. It allows us to experience the world in a different light. Dark Sisters , while dealing with a heavy subject matter, should prove to be a production not to miss as it attempts to portray a taboo subject through song.
The Polygamy Opera, with as much baggage as its name implies, certainly deals with some heavy issues as experienced in America yet provides a contextual uplifting message. Opera, versus any other type of live performance that require audiences, is often restricted to those who either are fluent in a Romantic language or who have previous knowledge of this style of performance--in other words, one rarely just "gets into opera," rather it is a preference developed over many years of exposure. Dealing with real life occurrences in America's not-so-far-off past, this opera exposes many unanswered questions about Mormonism and its most well known practice of polygamy. Far from the goal of creating a "shock factor" through the content, the push behind DARK SISTERS is the mere desire to narrate a segment of America's past in hopes that it may not be forgotten, and more importantly, that we may learn from it.
I think that doing operas about the issues in today's society is a great way to bring in a wider range of audiences into the opera world. It has potential to help people understand the art that is opera and how it tells a story in a unique way. I think this solution presents an awesomely unique way of educating the public on current controversial events and entertaining them at the same time. This is just another example on how diverse the entertainment business can be. The "Dark Sisters" opera really interests me because i am curious to see exactly how they tell the story and what theme they choose to rely on for the purpose of the story. Overall, I think combining current events with a classic form of art can be very interesting and educational to new audiences.
2. Polygamy opera
I wish slightly that the article had gone more in-depth about the opera plot of cited the two raids specifically. Aside from those two small points I think it’s wonderful what they are doing bringing this controversial practice to light. I won’t state my opinion on plural marriage as it’s not something I’ve dealt with personally in my lifetime. I can’t form any exclusive opinions. What I will say is this: taking that play to Vancouver right now is a bad decision, contrary to the beliefs of the production crew. It is hard enough keeping a jury, judge and other court officials unbiased in the world we live in, and whether or not they go to see the show, they will be influenced in some manner by it. There is absolutely no way to keep it completely out of their view. The people on trial, whether or not we agree with their lifestyle choice, still deserve a fair non-media influenced trial. This show shouldn’t be released until after the completion of the trial.
Over the last few years I've heard a lot about the rebirth of the modern opera, and I can say I'm both impressed and intrigued. When people talk about opera, the first thing that comes to my mind are fat people singing incredibly high, sitting in nosebleed seats craning my neck over the balcony to get a better view, and plots that are wholly to complicated to understand even after seeing them twice. It's really refreshing for a younger audience (including me) to see that there are young opera writers who take upon themselves to write opera that speak upon issues happening in our communities. Of course the classics are to be seen, but if you were watching plays you'd want to intersperse your Shakespeare with your Ruhl, right? Polygamy is a interesting taboo topic to undertake -- the only exposure I've had to the lifestyle was through the HBO show Big Love, which I certainly watched at too young an age to fully understand the concepts they attempted to get across to the audiences. I also find the play opening in Vancouver a little weird, and wonder if there are similar polygamous groups in Canada like those in America. It seems like there would be some sort of barrier of understanding if there wasn't previous exposure to the subject.
I saw a production of this opera while I was touring Boston University. It was quite a shock mainly because I did not know the plot or anything about the show really and it was one of the first operas I had ever seen. The production was mostly wonderful. I wanted to learn more about it so I did some research and found out that there had been very few productions so I am glad that it is being produced on a large scale and also that new writers are being produced in opera, something that I have heard is very uncommon in the industry. I think that opera is beginning to reflect what is happening in theatre and the traditional boundaries are being broken and young audiences no longer want the traditional story. I’ll be interested to see how the show is performed and designed in terms of media and set, considering the production I saw had very little of both and I think that the story would have aided from it.
I think that opera is a fantastic medium, and that it can tell stories in a heightened way that theater isn't always able to. Of course, this could have been a play, but why not an opera!? I love hearing that new operas are being created and performed, because self-renewal is the only way that the opera industry can continue to exist and create wonderful work for audiences. This topic is a controversial one, and I'd be interested to learn how opera patrons reacted to it, and whether the production drew audiences that might not normally have made their way to the opera, or whether the idea that modern programming can fix the attendance issue is just wishful thinking. It's also quite different if this is performed at the Met or at a smaller experimental company. In this case, Vancouver Opera is an established opera company that has performed several contemporary, striking operas, and seems like a great venue for this production.
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