Prototype Festival: Acquanetta
Free
Michael Gordon – Acquanetta
In the opera Acquanetta, the spirit of 1940s horror movies is turned inside out in a bravura, one-act deconstruction of the genre that explores how vision relates to identity. Characters include the mad scientist Doctor, the insistent Ape, the reluctant Brainy Woman, the visionary Director and the beautiful Acquanetta, aka Mildred Davenport, an actress who disguised her identity.
Acquanetta examines the ways the movie camera manipulates how we see and are seen. In soaring, sometimes comic and always indelible songs that capture the heightened drama of horror films, these vivid characters reveal their inner longings and emotional shadows in what is ultimately a haunting meditation on the meaning of identity, transformation, stereotypes and typecasting, set in the heyday of Hollywood gloss.
Following the stream, join Composer Michael Gordon and Librettist Deborah Artman for a virtual conversation.
About the Festival: Over the course of nine festivals, PROTO has transitioned from potential to essential. In January of 2013, PROTOTYPE soared onto the scene with five genre-defying pieces and has since produced and presented 63 innovative works and welcomed 2,034 artists through our proverbial doors. As our 10th anniversary approaches, we’re eager to celebrate all that PROTOTYPE has contributed to the field. Join us as we look back at art from the Netherlands to New York to South Africa and beyond to reflect on the cutting-edge work PROTOTYPE has championed and where our esteemed artists will lead us in the next ten years.
The broadcast will take place at 4pm Eastern / 1pm Pacific.
All streams are live on the PROTOTYPE homepage for one showing only. Each stream will be followed by a conversation with the creators.
No registration required, free to attend from anywhere in the world.
Broadcast will be posted here (scroll down to find the relevant work and stream date): http://prototypefestival.org/shows/opera-theatre-x/
Link to donate: http://prototypefestival.org/support/