OVERVIEW Title: The Waterfall (LIBLAB)Composer: Norbert PalejLibrettist: Maja ArdalCommissioned By: Tapestry Opera Composer-Librettist LaboratoryLanguage: EnglishRun Time: 8Roles: Role Voice Type Range ? Character Description Womanmiddle-highA3-Ab5A woman fleeing pursuers with her husband and babyMan/Waterfallmiddle-lowAb2-Eb4The woman's husbandWaterfallhighC4-Eb5The voice of a waterfallWaterfallmiddleE3-Eb4The voice of a waterfall Please Note: The table above has content that
A businessman is waiting for a streetcar, with his back to an unhoused woman. The two silently judge each other. The man is annoyed at seeing someone who wants something for nothing, and the woman is feeling judged for a situation she has no control over. The two finally acknowledge
OVERVIEW Title: Where You LiveComposer: Iman HabibiLibrettist: Michael PollardCommissioned By: Tapestry Opera's Composer-Librettist LaboratoryLanguage: EnglishProducer: Tapestry OperaRoles: Role Voice Type Range ? Character Description The Street PersonhighC4-Ab5A street personThe Business PersonmiddleF3-C5A business person Please Note: The table above has content that is scrollable left to right.Orchestration: Piano SYNOPSIS A businessman is
An intersex woman wins a gold medal, but her struggles to get there mean nothing to the organization and the other athletes. She’s disqualified and shamed.
OVERVIEW Title: What is She?Composer: John HarrisLibrettist: Anna ChattertonCommissioned By: Tapestry Opera's Composer-Librettist LaboratoryLanguage: EnglishProducer: Tapestry OperaRun Time: 6Roles: Role Voice Type Range ? Character Description RunnerhighD4-B5A runnerDoctor 1middleB2-B4A doctorDoctor 2middle-lowB2-G4A doctor Please Note: The table above has content that is scrollable left to right. SYNOPSIS A meditation on the discrimination
2003: After leaking torture photos to the internet, American army translator Alessandra Jenson refuses to be hushed up, and live streams her suicide in protest.
OVERVIEW Title: The TranslatorComposer: David OgbornLibrettist: Leanna BrodieCommissioned By: Tapestry OperaLanguage: English, PashtoProducer: Tapestry OperaRoles: Role Voice Type Range ? Character Description Alessandra Jensenmiddle-highAb3-A5A young military interpreter who suffers from post-traumatic stress after witnessing the brutal torture of detainees, age 26Colonel CranelowEb2-E4In his 50s, a career military intelligence officer whose philosophy
After days of near catatonia in his cold apartment, the landlady asks Petrovich to repair Akakiy’s old coat, to no avail. Even his coworkers arrive to check in, but by then, Akakiy is unreachable. Akakiy is committed to a mental hospital. Once he arrives, the other residents encourage him to
Akakiy gets caught in rush hour and arrives late to find the head the department telling a sad story about encountering a homeless vagrant. Annoyed at being interrupted, the head of the department grills Akakiy on his little notebook of numbers. Akakiy explains he was using it to find ways
A watcher looks over a group of faithful. His irritation turns to hatred as he accuses them of subversion. He claims to have proof hidden in some papers, but the Child has destroyed them. The Child proclaims “I know what to do,” and the tension between authority and people escalates.
Lucifer is enraged at the unfairness put upon him. The Child sees, and has an idea. Perhaps the system should be broken. When Lucifer realizes the Child has seen his truth, he tries to hide his emotions.
A distraught woman is trying to report her sexual assault to a policeman. She admits she’s had some alcohol. Instead of pursuing justice, the policeman arrests her for illegal possession of alcohol. The Child witnesses all of it.
The Child questions Lucifer’s role as tempter, while he tempts with growing intensity. He chastises the Child for bowing to authority. She erupts in anger, pushing the books aside and leaving the cage.
Lucifer jangles an entrancing key in front of the Child and a young boy. This key promises to open the gates of heaven, but the boy has his own doubts about that. Nevertheless, he zips up his vest…
The Child is allowed out of her cage, with a warning she can have anyting she wants except for one thing. She asks what it might be, and in a Kafka-esque reply they say, “you know.”
The Child is bored. She reads several books in an effort to learn all the things she shouldn’t do, say, feel, or see. Lucifer simply asks her why, attempting to get her attention on him instead of books. She finds a name, Iblis, and taunts him.
A cleric prepares for confessional. Someone enters the booth. The cleric realizes it’s a man with whom he shared a mutual attraction. The man has recently finished gay conversion therapy and wishes to resume some kind of a relationship.
An interrogator turns his lurid eyes on an imprisoned female activist. Purposefully misunderstanding her movements as seduction, he convinces himself of something horrid.