Purchase’s Opera Goes Political
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
By Nurah Landrum
DraftQueens, Gozempic, Viagro: Unplanned Fatherhood Association, Better Living Through AI and ‘They’re Eating Our Dogs!’ All signs to be featured in Purchase’s upcoming production of “Les Mamelles de Tirésias” (in English "The Breasts of Tiresias"), a 78-year-old opera, they’re giving a new edge.
In one scene, characters will wield these signs to show the two sides of our political spectrum. While their reimagining is slightly different from the original scene in this opera, it’s meant to modernize it for a new audience.
The opera’s origins date back to World War II. Initially written as a surrealist play, it was then composed for the opera by Francis Poulenc in the mid-1940s. Central themes surrounding gender roles and societal change drive the opera’s narrative, and in Purchase’s rendition, establish a framework used to incorporate modern political figures.
14 years ago, their opera company performed it with names like Osama Bin Laden and Michael Scott Moore, a prominent left-wing journalist. This year, those names will be phased out to keep things up to date. Jacque Trussel, the company’s director and program head, introduces Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive congresswoman, and Kristi Noem, ex-secretary of homeland security under Trump, for the updated version, which crystallizes his vision: parodying the absurd political climate. “It’s like watching a late-night talk show. People try to satirize what’s going on,” Trussel says.
During rehearsals, the soon-to-be masters of the craft huddle around a laptop that displays their earlier production on YouTube to nail the staging. Hugh Murphy, their conductor, watches them belt French with the ease of native speakers over jazz-infused compositions. Later, Trussel asks for help brainstorming additional phrases to go on the signs. They return to English with an outpouring of ideas.
“Anybody that has an idea, I go, ‘Oh, that’s better than this, let’s put it in,’” Trussel says. “I get a lot of it just by being around people…I learn as much as I teach every single day.”
Even after the chaos of rehearsal, the nature of the show’s clearly not lost on the students, nor their director. “It’s really relevant today because of where we are politically, and we’ve started a war,” Trussel explains. “We have these factions—totally split apart, not connected—and so we play on all of that.”
Between the French arias they belt, that throughline is still clear and explicit from the start. Trussel mentions it begins with a film: there’s a fireworks show, it devolves into trench warfare, then returns to fireworks. “It’s all about what happens when men are gone, and women have to take over the household and become men.”
Freshman ensemble member, Katelin Huang, says, “It’s contemporary while it’s not, if that makes sense.” She mentions the production with Bin Laden, too. “It was like, [they were] trying to make it as political as they could for the standing at the time.”
Teddy Jimenez, a sophomore in the opera, describes core aspects of the plot, like Thérèse turning into the male Tirésias, doing away with the stifling roles of women, in simpler terms.
“She like, grows a beard. Her chest is balloons and they fly away, and then she grows a beard, and then he [Tirésias’ husband] becomes the wife,” she says. “It’s supposed to be absurd, it’s supposed to make you go ‘what the heck?’, but that’s what social commentary is.”
Thérèse transforming into a man is the catalyst for an increasingly absurd chain of events, but it sets the stage for a novel reimagining of her plight. Through a bizarre exploration of gender roles, it remains grounded in reflections of political undercurrents today.
At a time when students are so politically conscious, one might assume they’re aware of this production. When talking to those in the voice and opera major, though, it seems that’s up for debate. “We put on pretty big productions, and we don’t really get much attention on it,” says Joyce Suarez, a freshman member. “Getting that attention would help out with our major.” Overall, the hope is to see more students in the audience alongside the Broadview (Purchase’s senior living) residents, whom Trussel points out are often in the crowd.
“Turnout is always parents, of course,” Trussel says. “Good news is we have the people at Broadview, and they’re very interested in opera. When we go over and do a program there, the hall there is packed.”
If you were to ask those in the major, the main avenues used to boost visibility are their Instagram and TikTok pages. Whether that’s enough remains to be seen. “I don’t think it works because we don’t have a PR team,” jokes Jimenez. “Half the people I run into, and I’m like, ‘Oh, I’m an opera student!’ They don’t even know the program exists.”
Still, they put up flyers around campus to spread the word. “I used to go around putting up posters myself,” Trussel says. “We used to work with visual arts [students], and they used to design our posters for us…that fell by the wayside at some point.”
Despite the obstacles, their production is a feat in its own right. Breathing new life into this form doesn’t happen every day, and Trussel is adamant that it will speak to the younger generation. “It’s also kind of what’s happening today,” he says. “It’s about what’s going on in our society right now. It’s about people not having sex anymore. It’s about people staying home and scrolling through Hinge or Tinder.” There is a plotline following declining childbirth rates, and of course, the husband bears the children.
If this is too intimidating for some, Trussel says they’ll be implementing a new after-show Q&A panel. “The cast will stay on stage, and we’ll set up a way for the audience members to come down front, and we’ll answer questions about the show.”
“Les Mamelles de Tirésias” opens at the Performing Arts Center on April 9 and runs through April 12, with their matinee performance on the final day. For students interested, tickets are free through the online box office.