"Librettising Science": Using operatic narrative and performance to re-present scientific thought in an investigation of new methods towards developing contemporary opera
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my supervisors Prof. Aleksandar Dundjerović, Dr Gerardo Adesso, Dr Nicole Panizza and Dr Carrie Churnside. Your patience and guidance have been invaluable. I would also like to thank my singing teacher Maureen Brathwaite, along with members of the staff who handled my reviews and administration and gave feedback: Prof. Christopher Dingle, Prof. Deborah Mawer, Dr Oliver Carter, Dr Sarah Cooper, Dr Michael Wolters, Dr Selina Schmidt, and Sukhroop Johal. I would also like to thank the Midlands4Cities for funding this research and their staff: Julie Tims, Dr Sian Vaughan, Mark Eastwood and Dr Nicola Royan. Further funding came from the University of Birmingham (Genevieve Adkins), Help Musicians UK and the British Council.
Without my collaborators I would not have been able to produce this work. In particular I need to thank; Daniel Blanco Albert, and Oliver Farrow for their wonderful music; Wanshu Li, Tadas Stalyga, Leon Trimble, Alexander Kaniewski, Jingya Peng and the students from Birmingham School of Art for their artistic and dramaturgical expertise; the Post Workers Theatre; and Anna Vienna Ho. I also want to thank the venues: ThinkTank Planetarium and Colin Hutcheson; RoguePlay Theatre; Royal Birmingham Conservatoire; Tête Á Tête Opera Festival; and Edinburgh Fringe 2023. The key scientists who gave their time and thoughts to the work with were Dr Amaury Triaud, Prof. Adrian Newton, Dr Markus Eichhorn and Dr Leah Band.
The talented singers and performers I had the pleasure to work with were: Dalma Sinka, Ed Harrison, Hannah Flynn, Megan Artemova, Aaron Kendall, Teddy Woolgrove, Maria Liu, Tina Fung, Charlotte Sleet, Olivia Thornber, Clint Lesch and Tanna Chamberlain. My thanks also go to instrumentalists: Dominika Blatt, Lucy Samuels, Aidan Hammond, Will Hammond, Arjun Jethwa, Edwin Podolski, Maja Pluta, Jennie Robson, Verena Koay, Jose Luna, Alicia Humeniuk, Ricardo Brown Roger, Kaethe Uken and Daniel Kemshell. David Kirkham, Reiss Smith and Katherine Christie Evans all supplied technical support and Haki Ali, and Andy Willsher provided video documentation.
I would also like to thank Ilaria Mazzoleni and the whole team at Nature, Art and Habitat, Janet Phillips from Opera Novella, Sandra Taylor from the Welsh National Opera and the Midlands Art Centre.
Finally, I thank all of my friends and family who supported me throughout this journey in particular my partner who managed all the stress, my parents who always listened to my thoughts and ideas, my sister and brother who both inspire me to keep creating.
Abstract
This practice-based research investigates presenting scientific concepts and research on the operatic platform through an interdisciplinary and collaborative process. It focuses on libretti writing and performance, using tools such as anthropomorphism, archetype and mythological characters to engage participants and the audience with the subjects on stage. The work explores how to create an experience which enables a deeper sense of the reality of the science presented, and makes the audience, performers and creative practitioners complicit in the existence of the concepts, or objects, being performed. The performativity of the work is allowed to play a key role in shaping the final piece, as the researcher explores the embodiment of the characters during the process of production towards cyclical presentations of the work.
This investigation includes two major collaborative projects in which I participated as librettist, producer and performer:
1. The Flowering Desert. An opera about the discovery of the TRAPPIST-1 planetary system, written to be performed specifically in planetaria. This involves a collaboration with: composer Daniel Blanco Albert; designer Alexander Kaniewski; filmmaker Tadas Stalyga; projectionist Leon Trimble; and the ThinkTank Planetarium (led by Colin Hutcheson).
2. Lipote: An Interconnected Journey. An opera/musical about deforestation due to intensive agriculture. Set in the soil from the perspective of the roots of trees. This involves a collaboration with: composer Oliver Farrow; jewellery maker Wanshu Li; choreographer Jingya Peng; and sound artist Leon Trimble.
Figures
Figure 1 A model of creative arts and research processes: the iterative cyclic web of practice-led research and research-led practice. (Smith & Dean, 2010: 20)
Figure 2 Comparing sizes and orbital periods. Source: IoA/Amanda Smith (Creative Commons)
Figure 3 Graphical display of the TRAPPIST-1 transit data. Source: Gillon, M., Triaud, A. et al. (2017)
Figure 4 Semiotic square for the arc of the Measurer
Figure 5 Astronomical Syzygy. Jupiter (top), Venus (lower left), and Mercury (lower right) above La Silla Observatory where the TRAPPIST-1 system was discovered (May 26, 2013). Source: ESO (European Southern Observatory)
Figure 6 A still from the stop motion of paper flowers. Flower props created by Niambi Robinson, stop motion created by Roxanne Korda. Source: Roxanne Korda.
Figure 7 Taking footage of wood cutting made by art student Yuan Wang to embed in visuals created with Leon Trimble.
Figure 8 Still from the film of Scene 1 (focus on Pantele performed by Kinna Whitehead) created May 2021 with footage from Tadas Stalyga, costume by Alexander Kaniewski and edited by Roxanne Korda.
Figure 9 Pantele’s costume with tabard showing both sides of the tabard, before and after impact.
Figure 10 Make-up design for Pantele by Vianna Mistry, December 2022.
Figure 11 An Ancient Greek Herm or Herma. Source: Creative Commons
Figure 12 Design for Xoe created by art student Amy Bradley.
Figure 13 Xoe’s jacket, sash and hat.
Figure 14 The Mother Star Teddy Woolgrove, Dalma Sinka, Megan Artemova and Ed Harrisson (left to right), January 2023
Figure 15 Process of Panarchy - Adaptive Cycle diagram. Source: Garmestani et al. (2009)
Figure 16 Scene 1 at the Edinburgh Fringe (Image courtesy of Shaky crown collective)
Figure 17 Stills from video work exploring the rainforest and plantation.
Figure 18 Stills from animated video created for scene 2 based on visual representations created in workshops in cycle 1
Figure 19 A palm tree from Lipote in Edinburgh Fringe (Image courtesy of Shaky Crown)
Figure 20 The Thimmamma Marrimanu and a strangler Fig in Borneo. Source: Creative Commons
Figure 21 The Strangler Fig in scene 5 at Edinburgh Fringe (Image Courtesy of Shaky Crown)
Figure 22 The King Durian in scene 6 at Edinburgh Fringe (Image Courtesy of Shaky Crown)151
Chapter 1
Chapter 2: "Librettising" astrophysics to create The Flowering Desert
2.1 Introduction
2.6 Conclusion
Chapter 3: "Librettising" ecology to create Lipote: An Interconnected Journey
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Context of the Research and Influences
3.3 Synopsis
3.4 Developing the Script
3.4.a Communication: Influence from the Science
3.4.b Exploring Different Worlds: Panarchy and Adaptive
3.4.c Soil
3.4.d The Fungal Network
3.4.e The Narrator
3.4.f The Humans
3.4.g The Rainforest
i. A Framework for the Rainforest
iii. Exploring the Rainforest through Cycles of Collaboration
3.4.h The Palm Tree Plantation
3.4.i Lipote as the Loner Tree and the "Fiery Edge"
3.4.j The Strangler Fig
3.4.k The Forest Garden (or Taungya) and the Marriage
3.6 Future Steps and Conclusion
Chapter 4: Conclusion
Appendix 1: The Flowering Desert Creative Process
AP 1.1 Cycle 1: Jan-April 2020
AP 1.2 Cycle 1: Short Story - The Flowering Desert
AP 1.3 Cycle 1: Online Workshops and Outcomes April 2020-February 2021
AP 1.4 Cycle 1: Exploration through Performance and Film: March - June 2021
AP 1.5 Cycle 2: Leading to the Performances in May 2022