Drama

Adult Themes

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Doting mother Lumee and her daughter Bibi live isolated, in a pristine​ sanctuary. Bibi and Lumee are trying to protect each other from the danger that lurks outside their door.

 

Winner of a Pulitzer Prize in 2019, and written just before #metoo,

p r i s m explores the elasticity of memory after the trauma of a sexual assault, and the extent to which we will go to try to make it all better.

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About the music:

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ELLEN REID'S Pulitzer Prize-winning opera p r i s m features a haunting and kaleidoscopic musical landscape. The score erupts with vibrant colors, utilising innovative choral and orchestral techniques to create a distinct sonic world. Reid's composition seamlessly weaves together seemingly disconnected musical styles through leitmotifs and ostinatos.

 

The music employs electronic manipulation, diverse timbres, and extended techniques to magnify differences between similar musical styles. This vertiginous juxtaposition of musical elements reflects the opera's themes of trauma, memory, and healing, demanding a vast range of musical expression.

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About the words:

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ROXIE PERKINS'  libretto for p r i s m explores the aftermath of sexual trauma through a non-linear narrative. The story follows Bibi and her mother Lumee, trapped in a sterile room, grappling with a mysterious illness. Perkins employs invented vocabulary and fractured language to convey the disorienting experience of PTSD.

 

The libretto's triptych structure and vivid use of colour as emotional triggers offer a window into the sensory world of trauma survivors. Ultimately, the text examines how the stories we tell ourselves to cope can become more harmful than the trauma they disguise.​​​