| . | 09/15/2008
Interview with Wickham Boyle, writer and director of the new 9/11-inspired work, Calling: An Opera of Forgiveness.
By: Deirdre Donovan
Wickham Boyle's new 9/11-inspired opera, Calling: An Opera of Forgiveness, is based on her 2002 book, A Mother's Essays from Ground Zero. In a recent telephone conversation, Ms. Boyle shared that her new opera brings her full circle in her public and personal life.
Wickham Boyle is the writer and director of the new 9/11-inspired work, Calling: An Opera of Forgiveness. Based on her 2002 book (A Mother’s Essays from Ground Zero), the opera recounts one downtown family’s experience of 9/11 and how they moved from utter chaos to a new sense of community. Ms. Boyle is the "guiding spirit" behind the development of the full-length opera, which has its world premiere at La Mama Theater beginning September 12th.
In a recent telephone conversation in New York Ms. Boyle shared her reflections on her new project. Here is an excerpt of our conversation.
Your new opera is based on your 2002 book, A Mother’s Essays from Ground Zero. What inspired you to rework your book as an opera?
Wickham Boyle. An editor friend asked me if I would come out and produce a fashion show for “Seventh on Sixth” [in 2005], and I said, ‘Absolutely--but only if we can commission new work. So she was totally cool. I hired Doug Geers to do the music for the show--and he was just a dream to work with. We got along super well. About a week after [the fashion show] he and his violin-virtuoso wife took me out for tea. And they said, ‘Gosh, what do you want to do next? And I said, I want to do this opera, because nothing has been done about September 11th.’ I don’t mean to say nothing, but there has not been an outpouring of work about September 11th. So I gave the book to Doug--but he didn’t get back to me immediately. And, of course, I thought they hated the book. Anyway, he came back 6 months later, and he said, I’ve been really busy. But yeah, I want to do this!
Parts of the opera have already been staged in New York City and other US locations. Tell me a bit about these performances.
WB. We started in June 2007 at the Composers Collaborative [at the Cornelia Street Café Serial Underground]. We did another piece in February 2008 at the Spark Festival [in Minneapolis], another piece in March at the Composers Collaborative, and then in May at Princeton University. You know instead of cooking an entire dinner all at once. You figure out how to cook courses.
How has response to the work been so far?
WB. It’s been stunning. I think people are really, really moved. The easiest thing for me to talk about--since I had nothing to do with it--is the music. The music is really gorgeous. The task that I gave Doug when I started was that it was really important to me that the music move from dissonance to harmony. Because the subliminal effect of that is exactly where we--as individuals, as a country, as a world--need to move.
Has the opera evolved over the months?
WB. Ohmigod, certainly! We did a section first called “How Long.” At one point I was simply screaming to Doug--‘How long? This thing is so-oooh long.’
What unique challenge did you encounter in developing this project?
WB. The biggest challenge is tackling something this iconic. I think the personification of the challenge is how long it has taken them to build something at Ground Zero. It is fraught full of “hot buttons.” And so the challenge was to keep this personal. No, I’m not making a political statement. I’m not making any statement beyond: This is exactly what happened to my family.
How is the theme of forgiveness central to the opera?
WB. Because I think that in order for anyone--or any aspect of our lives--to move forward we have to offer ourselves, and those around us, forgiveness. There is no forward motion without forgiveness and reconciliation. This is coming unstuck.
You include the biblical story of Lot’s wife in your opera. Is there some lesson or point in this story that we can transfer to our post 9/11 world?
WB. As my grandmother used to say, ‘Look back, don’t stare.’ There’s something about looking back, and there’s something about looking back so strongly you can’t move forward.
You worked for 7 years as an experimental theater producer at the famed La Mama Theater. Does the premiere of your full-length opera at this beloved institution feel especially appropriate?
WB. Absolutely. For years I felt I was the person who gave, or helped to give, voice to their artistic Muses. So it’s nice to be on the other side. It was really important for me to bring this back here. Not only that, but this is the place where I learned everything that’s being evinced, hopefully, in this opera. The very first of it is that Ellen Stewart was the person who caused world theater to burst onto a stage. And our cast has Americans from the Midwest, African-Americans, Japanese, German, Chinese--it’s really extraordinary.
http://www.callingtheopera.com
September, 2008: Premiere September 12 at the La Mama ETC First Floor Theater, Greenwich Village, New York City.
Performances continue September 13, 14, 18, 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, and 28.
Performances at 8pm except Sundays 2:30pm and 8pm.
Tickets $25. Students/Seniors $20.
Box office: 212-475-7710 or www.lamama.org
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