Boston Lyric Opera’s latest production is an opera version of Margaret Atwood’s novel A Handmaid’s Tale, a story of a dysfunctional future society, staged in the most authentic setting possible, a basketball court. And not just any basketball court, but one at Harvard University, which is the setting for the novel. The first lines of the book refer to a gymnasium converted into a dormitory where the protagonist sleeps. So that’s where the opera will be performed. The opera is set in and around Cambridge, especially at Harvard, or what in the tale formerly had been Harvard.
The Danish composer Poul Ruders persuaded Ms. Atwood to allow an adaptation of the novel as an opera in the 1990s. Paul Bentley, a British writer, worked with him to adapt the libretto, which adheres closely to the story of the novel. Ruders himself translated it into Danish for the opera’s premier at the Danish Royal Opera in 2000, where it was greeted with critical acclaim. The American premier at Minnesota Opera was also a great success, and it has been followed by other productions around the country. This production is the East Coast premier.
Mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano sings the role of the Handmaid whose story this is. She has been taken from her husband and daughter to be indoctrinated to act as a surrogate mother serving a “commander” named Fred, which means she has been renamed Offred. In the near future society known as Gilead, the government is run by Christian fundamentalists according to Puritan ideals. The commander is part of the elite, and women no longer have rights to property, to work, even to read. Secret police are everywhere and rules are strictly enforced, but Offred still manages to evade some of the rules and she still has memories of her life before the establishment of Gilead.
With the recent television series reviving interest in the novel, and women using Handmaid costumes as part of their political protests, this production is very timely. And it adds the powerful dimension of music to depict the action and emotions. You can also count on the BLO to present visually compelling staging. There are two performances left, on Friday, May 10 and Sunday, May 12. You can find tickets at blo.org, which also has several very informative blog postings about the production of A Handmaid’s Tale.