WWU Opera Theatre Presents "Slow Dusk" & "Suor Angelica"
Steps
Audience members need to be able to ascend several steps to the seating area. If you are unable to access the seating area, a streaming link to a performance will be available.
Time and Location
- 2022, Apr 21 Performing Arts Center 016 - Choir Room
- 2022, Apr 22 Performing Arts Center 016 - Choir Room
- 2022, Apr 23 Performing Arts Center 016 - Choir Room
- 2022, Apr 24 Performing Arts Center 016 - Choir Room
Western Washington University’s Opera Theatre presents two one-act operas: Carlisle Floyd’s gritty American operatic play Slow Dusk, followed by Giacomo Puccini’s sublime Suor Angelica. Floyd’s rarely performed Slow Dusk takes place at a farmhouse in the Carolinas where innocent infatuation is stifled by a family’s deep prejudices. Best known for his acclaimed masterpiece Susannah, Floyd’s one-act provides a beautiful glimpse into the burgeoning talents of the then-college-aged composer whom we lost in September 2021, at 95.
Though traditionally set in a late seventeenth-century convent in Italy, our unique approach to Suor Angelica places its characters at an American Catholic boarding house for unwed pregnant women. The opera centers around Angelica, a young woman seeking solace after being forced to give up her child and facing banishment by her guardian aunt. Both pieces are set in the late 1950s and speak to the oppression of women hidden under the guise of religious righteousness.
Content advisory
The performance includes themes of trauma and suicide.
Photo by Anna Olsen
Photo by Anna Olsen
Photo by Suor Angelica
Disability Accommodations
For disability accommodations, please contact the department presenting the event. Disability access information is available online at Parking Services, and further resources can be found by contacting Western's Disability Access Center.