where is evil?
by
Douglas Messerli
David
Lang and Mark Dion (libretto), David Lang (composer) Anatomy Theater / Los Angeles, Redcat (Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts
Theater) in Disney Hall; the performance Howard Fox and I saw was at the
matinee on Sunday, June 19, 2016
Composer David
Lang’s and designer Mark Dion’s new work, Anatomy
Theater, which received its world premiere at the Disney Center’s Redcat
theater is more like a Broadway operetta in the manner of Sweeney Todd than being a true opera. Yet the LAOpera’s Off Grand
production, the last of this season’s productions, represents a fascinating
contribution to the musical canon that cannot easily be forgotten.
Based on true occurrences in early 18th
century, when criminals and paupers were publically dissected after their
deaths to determine where the evil existed in their bodies, this manifestation
concerns a young woman, Sarah Osborne (Peabody Southwell), who, beaten and
sexually abused by her step-father, was locked out of her own home and was
forced to survive as a prostitute. After marrying her pimp, she is regularly
beaten by him as well. Lacing her husband’s gin with laudanum, she then
proceeded to smother him before hushing her two young children and smothering
them in turn.
Beginning with the confession in the
theater’s art gallery, Sarah is promptly hung before the eyes of the gathered
opera audience who have been served up, as they might have in the 18th
century, ale and sausages. The Master of Ceremonies, Joshua Crouch (Marc
Kudisch) then encourages the crowd (“Follow me quickly, gentlemen”) to enter
the theater proper to observe the anatomy itself.
Accompanied by the anatomist, Baron Peel
(Robert Osbourne) and his operating assistant, Ambrose Strang (Timur), the trio
then proceed to anatomize the tools they will be using before cutting, yanking,
and dissecting the various parts of Sarah’s naked and bleeding body—the work’s
program note humorously begins, “No singers were harmed in the creation of this
opera"—in the attempt to find which of her organs was responsible for her
horrific behavior.
Obviously, there is rank smell of the
mob in this theatrical presentation, and Crouch does his best to bring out the
bestial lusts of his declared male audience (surely the sight of a beautiful
nude woman upon an operating table whose dead body was being, quite literally,
raped—her innards being carried away—must have titillated audiences of the day,
and even today’s audience began with oddly-placed giggles before settling down
to a more serious consideration), and, accordingly, we are made to comprehend,
even in viewing this “representation” of the act, our inward lusts. Yet the
self-inflated anatomist, Peel, argues that it is a necessary act to prove that all
parts of the body must be attune with the others and the world around them in
order to allow us to be a good citizens of the world.
One by one, the bowels, the pancreas,
the heart, and even the uterus is removed by Strang and inspected, as blood
pours from the dead woman’s body—still the very live singer Southwell, who
claimed she had to study meditation to bring her breathing down to a slight
pulse for the 45 minutes of her “operation.”
“Where is evil?” is the question the trio
ask again and again. Yet they can find no contagion in any of her parts. It is
apparent that the evil they are seeking lies not in the corpse, but in us, the
human society which turned a blind eye to all of her abuse. And, obviously, as
Lang has hinted in his comments, that fact makes this opera very contemporary,
particularly within the context of the mob of haters who embrace a candidate
such as Donald Trump.
Lang’s music, as Los Angeles Times musical roots, as critic Mark Swed has written, is
difficult to name. Obviously, as a founding member of the “Bang on the can”
composers, percussion is essential; yet here there are beautifully lyrical
moments, as well, such as Southwell’s lovely, operating table-aria, concerning
the pureness of her heart despite her horrible deeds, where flutes, piano,
viola, cello, and even accordion take precedence. At one point there is a
rousing trumpet solo by wild Up performer, Aaron Smith.
Lang has become an increasingly impressive
American composer. My only complaint is that I wish the run of this work had a
bit a longer so that I might have returned to hear it again. Maybe a reprise
next year? The Long Beach Opera did this quite successfully with Lang’s and Mac
Wellman’s The Difficulty of Crossing a
Field.
Los Angeles, June
20, 2016
