J. Edna & Mother Tolson

Music by Michael Daugherty, 1993

Choreographed by Javier de Frutos

Stage and Costume Design by Jean-Marc Puissant

Lighting Design by Anna Wemmert

Images © courtesy of Gothenburg Opera

The work is set to 3 amplified string quartets, augmented by 3 voice recordings: J. Edgar Hoover giving CIA’s propaganda speeches / performances by Elvis Presley’s impersonators / recordings of the African American opera singer Paul Robeson live from the Kremlin.

 

The scenography and costume design give the audience an X-ray vision of a community, through the walls of a building and the clothes they wear. Styled to create links with every decade of the second half of the 20^th century, this allows us to connect, confront and challenge notions of culture, politics, repression, privacy, individuality, race, gender and sexuality.