Hh15 — Interplay at Banff: Workshopping a new opera production of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid’s Tale
Words and interview by Stephania Romaniuk
Opera artists, audiences, and producers agree that politically charged, controversial, and compelling stories created by the voices of our time deserve to be seen and heard on stage. So why is it so hard to tell those stories?
Producing new operas can present major risks for large companies. Audiences can be fickle about new works, which typically require a heftier upfront investment than tried-and-true classics. As it is, Canada’s largest opera companies only produce about 30 fully staged operas a year combined. Other than the Canadian Opera Company, which stages seven operas a season, major opera companies in cities like Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Montréal, and Québec produce an average of two to four. Bringing in even 30% less than anticipated at the box office can tip over an already precarious financial season, so larger companies cannot be faulted for being cautious.
Just like speeding through the prairies along the Trans-Canada, if you’re only looking for the next familiar landmark, it’s easy to miss the beautiful flora of the Canadian opera ecosystem that’s rapidly taking shape. Tucked in between the mainstage productions, the 1,000+ capacity theatres, the headlining artists, and the recognizable roster of hits are a growing number of smaller companies, experimental productions, and emerging Canadian artists who are changing what we can expect from what and how opera is presented.
Joel Ivany — Artistic Director of the Opera Program at the Banff Centre — has been experimenting with opera’s form, content, and containers for over a decade. Housed at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in Alberta, the opera program collaborated for the first time this summer with its Chamber Music counterpart in a joint program named Interplay. The month-long intensive offered a platform for established artists and young vocalists and instrumentalists to collaborate with a special focus on two important workshop performances, the first of which was a chamber adaptation of Poul Ruders’s opera The Handmaid’s Tale.
Responding to threatening authoritarian trends she perceived in the growing religious Right south of the border, Canadian author Margaret Atwood published The Handmaid’s Tale in 1985. The dystopian novel portrays a bleak and repressive near future, where individual rights — especially women’s rights — are curtailed and love has been replaced by duty to the state. The novel won Atwood a host of awards and nominations, and creatives began adapting The Handmaid’s Tale into other media almost immediately after it was published. In addition to several film adaptations, the compelling story, vivid characters, and perennial relevance of warnings against autocracy have subsequently made their way into radio, a graphic novel, an acclaimed television series─and an opera.
In 1998, the Danish composer Poul Ruders began work on an opera adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale, which the Royal Danish Opera premiered in 2000 to critical acclaim. Subsequent stagings have typically relied on British poet Paul Bentley’s English libretto, such as performances at the Canadian Opera Company — performed in 2004 in the wake of 9/11 and the Global War on Terrorism — as well as Boston Lyric Opera’s 2019 staging in a gymnasium on the Harvard University campus, presented two years into Donald Trump’s turbulent presidency.
Ivany had chanced upon a copy of the musical score some ten years earlier, piquing an interest in staging the work himself. The opera, however, called for massive orchestral and vocal forces—15 soloists, a chorus, and a full orchestra—and the music complex, layered, and harmonically progressive. Ivany went to several opera companies with the idea of staging the opera but found that companies were hesitant to program an opera outside the standard rotation that carried with it considerable financial risks should it be received poorly. (This, despite the fact that when the Canadian Opera Company produced the opera in 2004, attendance for its six performance-run was at 97% capacity and opera-goers under 30 bought nearly 40% of single tickets.)
After the pandemic, Ivany returned to the idea of staging the opera but wanted to experiment with reducing its length and the significant orchestration it calls for. Covid-19 had accelerated global, North America, and Canadian realities that were trending before the pandemic: decreases in attendance at performing arts events, philanthropic gifts, and corporate sponsorships alongside a sharp increase in expenses. “We’re five to ten years ahead of where we would have been,” he says. Hopefully, however, in a reduced adaptation, opera companies of different sizes would find the opera more feasible to produce.
Now at the helm of Edmonton Opera, Ivany enquired with the music publisher for rights to adapt the work and was put in touch with the composer, who gladly agreed to the adaptation. Next, Ivany secured funding for a workshop performance of the opera at the Banff Centre and began assembling his creative team. At the heart of the adaptation would be the changes to the score, and Ivany knew he required a gifted composer who understood the subtle art of orchestral reduction. He sought out Brooklyn-based composer-pianist Dan Schlosberg, Music Director of New York’s Heartbeat Opera, whose inventive musical arrangements include a production of Fidelio featuring a primarily-Black cast and more than 100 incarcerated singers from six prison choirs, as well as a production of Carmen orchestrated for accordion, electric guitar, and saxophone that was set on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Ivany was also conscious that The Handmaid’s Tale centers on themes related to women’s rights and wanted a strong female presence in the creative team. So he invited Kamna Gupta, a winner of the American Prize and leading figure in interpreting and premiering contemporary classical works, to lead the music rehearsals and conduct the performance. Working alongside Gupta would be Vancouver-based stage director Amanda Testini, a graduate of the Opera in the 21st Century program, who would be responsible for lightly staging the workshop performance. (Traditionally, workshop performances feature vocalists reading from musical scores, with only minimal staging.) Artistic support and a strong technical crew, including year-round Banff Centre staff, rounded out the team.
While smaller companies and independent artists can be nimbler to adapt to changing circumstances, workshop performances such as this one for The Handmaid’s Tale still form an important step in the development process. They offer time for experimentation and a safe opportunity to learn what works (and pivot, if needed) ahead of the premiere. For instance, as part of the orchestral reduction, Schlosberg programmed many audio cues into one of two keyboards, which doubled as a harp, didgeridoo, and a litany of unique sound cues like a baby’s cry. “One major lesson from this workshop is how far in advance tech support needs to be planned,” shares Gupta. “Something like programming sound effects takes hours and hours of work to source the right sound, add the sound to the cue list, and then to make sure the sound is well-balanced within the ensemble. [It also needs to come] out of the correct speakers depending on whether the sound is meant to blend with the orchestra or stand out as an ‘event,’ such as a bell ringing on stage. It's a lot to think about and organize.”
To more efficiently manage valuable resources, opera companies carefully consider the scale of new works they present. Full-scale operas are often planned far in advance, and new works can therefore become out of step with current events and audience appetites. The performance season (typically September through June) can also feel sparse with only a few mainstage operas a year. How can local audiences engage with the artform live in other ways between shows? Presenting smaller scale contemporary works is one of the most obvious answers and something many companies are increasingly building into their season. An added benefit of chamber performances is that first time opera-goers can experience opera in more intimate venues, seeing and hearing performers close-up. Also, in the absence of an established opera company, smaller local companies in regional centres can still afford to present live opera, and audiences can access more live opera than they otherwise would have.
Presenting chamber operas can also allow opera producers to invest more in each aspect of those productions—including personnel. Testini argues that downsizing to make a work of quality is better than “stretching larger than our container. If we try to stretch larger than we can hold, it goes on the back of those artists and the rest of the people who work in the institution, burning them out.” Adapting to the time and resources available can help ensure longevity in the field and in the creatives who are investing significantly in it.
As employment opportunities shift, highly skilled and experienced artists may choose to leave the field. Others, however, may begin to drive the action themselves. Testini has noticed in her Canadian peer group that young singers, directors, and creators are increasingly starting to make their own work, learning how to produce, write grants, and fundraise. The result is a flowering of smaller opportunities at the local level. “Maybe there are more opportunities that pop up, but maybe they're less attached to big institutions,” she shares. “Some can live there, but we’re creating a more diverse ecosystem.”
Rehearsals for the workshop performance of The Handmaid’s Tale were held in the teaching wing of the Banff Centre and the Jenny Belzberg Theatre, where the final performance would take place. Set against the stunning background of the Rocky Mountains and Bow Valley, the first dress rehearsal took place during a thunderstorm. Not only could the sounds of thunder be heard by the singers and instrumentalists onstage, but the fresh scent of rain permeated the entire theatre. By opening night, the cast and crew had lived together in the world of The Handmaid’s Tale for two weeks and were ready to showcase the next iteration of the opera.
As crowds filed in, they were greeted by an orchestra on stage (unusual for an opera) as well as projections that transformed the set into a sea of red cloaks and white hoods, figures hanging at The Wall, and even a TV that musically turned on for a scene in the Commander’s home. Quick scene changes, including several flashbacks, captured the deeply unsettling world of Atwood’s novel. Minimal lighting and prop elements brought just enough visual detail to the staging to enhance the music while leaving much in the hands of the orchestra and vocalists—and the imagination of the audience. In a theatre of just over 600 seats, no binoculars were needed. Brought close to the music and acting, the opera became a musical prayer, a bulwark against complacency and apathy, and a dire warning against authoritarianism’s brutal consequences to the human spirit.
What’s next for this opera adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale? Ivany has secured the funding needed for Schlosberg to complete the remaining orchestral reduction. Taking into account lessons learned and new ideas generated from this workshop, another performance of the full adaptation is anticipated. Ivany is hesitant to share too many details of when, where, and with whom, but he is confident that the adaptation will make its way to opera producers—and Canadian audiences—in the not too distant future. Like The Handmaid’s Tale, experiments in scaling down contemporary grand opera have an important place in broadening the canon, responding to current events and political climates, and increasing access for Canadian audiences to the musical voices of our day.
Find this and more in our latest print edition — Issue No. 13:
