PRECIPICE

Conceived and Designed by Susan Zeeman Rogers
Music by Rima Fand
Libretto by Karen Fisher
Direction by Mallory Catlett

Ana finds freedom in the forest, but as a child of the 1950’s her wild spirit is crushed and her voice is stolen by adults who disregard and punish her. Rather than marry a man who expects only beauty and docility, she finds her way to the precipice of her dream, and leaps. She wakes to find herself in a surreal wilderness in which she must fight to find her voice and power as a woman, and to create a world worth returning to.

Told as an object theatre/chamber opera, Precipice sets an intimate story against epic natural landscapes, created with hand-made paper dioramas and live feed video. This contemporary fairy tale has music by Rima Fand, libretto by Karen Fisher, design by Susan Zeeman Rogers and direction by Mallory Catlett. By drawing parallels between environmental and emotional damage, Precipice looks at how we are silenced and exiled, and at how we find our way back to connection, both with each other and the natural world.

CREATORS

Information

Duration 90' / no intermission

Commission Precipice received its public premiere in April 2023 in partnership with Hunter Opera Theater, Hunter College, CUNY at Lang Hall. The Precipice team is seeking companies for a professional world premiere production. Participating organizations that have helped to develop Precipice are New Georges and Paper River, LLC. The commissioning of Rima Fand for Precipice received funding from OPERA America’s Opera Grants for Female Composers program, supported by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation. The commissioning of Susan Zeeman Rogers for Precipice was made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

Premiere TBD

Roles (7) Ana (mezzo); Man 1 (baritone); Woman 1 (alto); Man 2 (bass); Woman 2 (soprano); Man 3 (tenor); Girl (child soprano, 8 yrs old)

Instrumentation String quartet, piano, mandolin, percussion.

Publisher

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PRESS

COMING SOON

The development of Precipice received funding from OPERA America’s Opera Grants for Female Composers program, supported by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation, and by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.