Four Saints in Three Acts - Programme

FOUR SAINTS IN THREE ACTS A YO U T H O P E R A W I T H 3 D T E C HN O L O G Y 30 September - 1 October _ 1

F our s aint s in three act s

SYNOPSIS Virgil Thomson and Gertrude Stein created Four Saints in Three Acts in 1927/28. It actually involves 20 saints, real and imagined, and takes place over four acts. As she did throughout her literary career, Gertrude Stein plays with our expectations from the very onset. Many come to opera–and also to theatre–expecting story, grand themes, larger than life characters and tumultuous emotions. However, Stein felt narrative was an impediment to the enjoyment of a play. She wanted instead to view it from moment to moment as one would a park or a landscape without having to keep pace with the momentum of a plot. Similarly, dialogue, with its demand on the spectator to follow meaning and sequences, interfered with or distracted one from the spectacle, so it was better to replace expositional language with words and phrases that formed a landscape of imagery and sound.

According to Arnold Aronson, renowned American avant-garde scholar, “Stein proposed a theatre with the structural equivalent of a landscape, where the parameters and content may be determined by the artist, but the method and organisation of viewing and processing information was largely controlled by the spectator.”

The tableaux we are offering tonight align themselves with Stein’s theory, but are embedded in contemporary technology. Enjoy the images, the sounds, the word plays. Give free rein to your imagination. No single meaning or resolution is correct. The characters find themselves on a journey. Go with them!

© Nancy Black

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VIC TORIAN OP ER A

PRODUCTION Creative Team Conductor Phoebe Briggs Director Nancy Black Co-Director Professor Kim Vincs Lighting Designer Peter Darby Costume Supervisor Candice MacAllister Production Manager Daniel Gosling Stage Manager Marina Milankovic Deputy Stage Manager Emma Wenlock Repetiteurs Phillipa Safey, Simon Bruckard Deakin Motion.Lab Team Technical Artists Stephen Jeal, Casey Dalbo, Simeon Taylor, Peter Divers, Daniel Skovli Programmers Kieren Wallace, Thomas Ingram, John McCormick Technical Supervisor Richard Burt Audiovisual Design Jordan Kaye Project Manager Jordan Beth Vincent Assistant Project Manager Dee Czarnecki Special thanks to: Lydia Evans, Phil Billones, Xue Rong Lee, Shanique Hallgren, Teresa Zhang, Riley McLaren, Caitlin Vincent, Stephanie Andrews.

Chorus Holly Ashburner, Freya Boltman, Isabela Calderon, Danielle Carey, William Clarke, Rebecca Daly, Christelise De Graaf, Nasia Delis, Brianna Ekberg, Elizabeth Eliopoulos, Lily Flynn, Oscar Harwood, Talia Le Couteur, Harmony Lee, Saskia Mascitti, Matilda-Pearl McNamara-Muir, Zac Mistri, Sidra Nissen, Eliza O’Connor, Maggie Orr, Erin Towns, Mikahl Venneri, Miriam Whiting-Reilly, Sara Zirak Featuring singers from Victorian Opera Youth Chorus Ensemble (VOYCE) Acknowledgements Four Saints in Three Acts is presented in partnership with Deakin Motion.Lab and supported by the Australian Research Council.

Research supported by the Australian Research Council’s Linkage Projects Funding Scheme (Project Number: LP140100742)

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Cast St Teresa 1 Sophia Wasley St Teresa 2 Shakira Dugan St Settlement Rhian Tuohy St Ignatius Raphael Wong St Chavez Carlos E. Bárcenas Compère Jerzy Kozlowski Commère Margaret Arnold St Sarah Rachel Amos St Stephen Dylan Casey St Plan Darcy Carroll St Genevieve Lisha Ooi St Cecilia Imara Waldhart St Answers Caitlyn Ding St Celestine/St Anne Hayley Edwards St Absalom Andrew Cappellari St Jan Callum MacDonald St Lawrence Lachlan McLean St Placide Alexander Owens St Vincent Maurice Wan St Philip Peter Lejins St Eustace Zac Mistri Orchestra Concertmaster Ioana Tache Violin Cameron Jamieson Viola Beth Condon Cello Nils Hobiger Double Bass Robert Nicholls Flute/Piccolo Kim Falconer Oboe Jasper Ly Clarinet Andrew Fong Bassoon Chris Martin Horn I Alex Morton Horn II Ian Wildsmith Trumpet Tony Frantz Trombone Amanda Tillett Percussion Arwen Johnston Keyboard Phillipa Safey

Join Victorian Opera in 2017 for a season of fables, fairy tales and legends

Secure the best seats at discounted prices and exclusive benefits with a Victorian Opera Membership Memberships on Sale 13 September | Single Tickets on Sale 13 October

’Tis Pity 4 – 8 February Melbourne Recital Centre

The Princess and the Pea 25 March Arts Centre Melbourne

Cunning Little Vixen 22 June – 1 July Arts Centre Melbourne

The Second Hurricane 6 – 15 October Horti Hall

The Sleeping Beauty 11 – 18 March Arts Centre Melbourne

La Sonnambula 5 May Arts Centre Melbourne

The Black Rider 15 September – 8 October The Coopers Malthouse

The Snow Queen 4 November The Cube Wodonga

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