'In the weeks following Sept 11, five young women present separately to hospitals in New York with identical symptoms. They are unable to swallow, and believe that some debris or body part from the destruction has lodged in their throats. The surgeon who examines them finds no obstruction.
'The Howling Girls is a new chamber opera dissecting the medium and metaphor of the voice, its loss and attempted reconstitution. A solo voice constricted, wheezing, stammering, in decay, a teenage chorus of howling girls, an absent mass, an unearthly theremin, a spectacle of fragmented bodies and voices. A sublime aural and perceptual encounter.' (Production summary)
World premiere presented by Sydney Chamber Opera. Performed at Carriageworks Bay 20, Eveleigh, New South Wales : 28 March - 7 April 2018.
Composer : Damien Ricketson
Musical Director : Jack Symonds
Director : Adena Jacobs
Set & Costume Design : Eugyeene Teh
Lighting Design : Jenny Hector
Sound Design : Bob Scott
With
Jane Sheldon and teenagers from
The House that Dan Built: Grace Campbell,
Kittu Hoyne, Kiri Jenssen, Emily Pincock,
Jayden Selvakumaraswamy, Sylvie Woodhouse
'In the immediate aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, five gaunt young women — strangers to each other — presented at a Manhattan hospital with the same symptoms: their throats were constricted and they couldn't swallow.' (Introduction)
'Young girls who presented to hospital literally choking from the horror of September 11 have been given voice in a startling Australian production.'
'Young girls who presented to hospital literally choking from the horror of September 11 have been given voice in a startling Australian production.'
'In the immediate aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, five gaunt young women — strangers to each other — presented at a Manhattan hospital with the same symptoms: their throats were constricted and they couldn't swallow.' (Introduction)