![]() I read a lot of papers by art historians to understand the way they interpret the painting. This scene is a re-interpretation of the traditional story of “Susanna and the Elders” because our female characters are telling the story to themselves, the way they see it, rather than how Tintoretto understood it. In another scene, set in the Picture Gallery at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, in front of the painting “Susanna and the Elders” by Tintoretto, we look at what it means for a woman to sit in a gallery surrounded by the depictions of the male gaze. We see his desire as one of the physical, and sometimes also violent forces, that can overcome the boundaries of a woman’s creative space. We’re looking at how his desire to make art is naturally accepted. In the opening scene, our narrator, a young painter who is trying to find space in which to make art, is accosted by a young gentleman who is also an aspiring painter. In the storyline of the piece, we are looking at the different things that interrupt our characters’ creativity. Giving them space on stage allows them to have access to creativity. The reasons why they are not able to make art goes back to a lack of safety and belonging. How do women make their own art?Ĭaitlin Smith: The way our characters answer this question in this piece is by creating time and space in which they can sit and think and talk – to find that calm space from which creativity can truly emerge. “NOW THAT WE ARE PERSONS WE SHALL MAKE ART” is a chamber opera that explores how women make their own art and it is deconstructing the myth of the male genius. ![]() That topic might bring us to a current piece you are developing in collaboration with the writer and dramaturg Carolyn Amann. Would you say one reason for that is that you are a woman? You mentioned that you have experienced opera as an outsider so far. My goal is to use opera as a medium in order to raise conversations or convey difficult or complex subjects in a way that informs the audience through music. So if I use historical structures in my storytelling, I only do that because it seems to be the most efficient way to convey the information to the audience. I’m more interested in depicting information that can be part of a useful conversation. I feel no need to tell stories the way they have been told. Everything I know about opera I’ve learned by listening to and looking at scores, and asking the people who make it. the narrative structure, for the development of your material? And how do you adapt your storytelling?Ĭaitlin Smith: I approach the history of opera entirely as an outsider. What can you take from the very traditional form of opera, like e.g. From that point on, we’ve all been designing our individual residencies as needed. ![]() We’ve had a lot of really great discussions that opened with an online residency via Zoom. ![]() This program is brand new, so it’s a learning process for both sides – the residents and the institutions, too. We are eight residents from all over Europe, from many different disciplines. Could you describe your role in the program for those who don’t know enoa or the program funded by Creative Europe? The full title is: “Empowering Opera: Breaking Boundaries for Institutions and Artists”.Ĭaitlin Smith: This immersive residency program of en oa was designed to give people access who are usually excluded from mainstream opera institutions. You were selected as an Artist in Residence at enoa – a worldwide network to empower opera. ![]()
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