A Site-Specific, Immersive Installation in DC‘s Allegedly Haunted Old Town Hall
DC Public Opera
2017
ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE INSTALLATION
Ms. Williams reimagined Benjamin Britten's riveting chamber opera as an immersive, site-specific installation in DC’s Old Town Hall, rumored to be one of Washington's haunted sites. The production features an aerialist-opera singer performing the role of Miss Jessel from a trapeze and interactive video projections that transform the Old Town Hall into the tortured mind of Henry James's famous heroine. Fusing opera, aerial acrobatics and multimedia art, this innovative performance of The Turn of the Screw led by an intrepid team of creative women opened January 21, 2017: the day of the Women's March.
"The intimacy of the space and the immersive approach allow for an immediate -- and sometimes inescapable -- experience of the story. The characters are only inches away from the audience -- seated within them, appearing behind them and from unexpected corners. The Governess confides in the audience and brings them into her story. We can explore the ambiguity essential to Henry James's story three-dimensionally in a way even the most intimate traditional theater cannot."
— OperaROX!
“Ms. Williams is molding the way opera is experienced by taking every element of her production to the next level ... In addition to the site-specific aspect and updating the story to reflect our contemporary world, in each of these productions we explored the role of the audience in the story and how to include them in each scene. Immersive opera means the audience is completely integrated into the world of the opera. I collaborate with the artists in our design and rehearsal process to make the most immediate experience of opera possible."
— Modern Singer Magazine
Conductor / Michelle Rofrano
Video Projections / Yee Eun Nam
Costumes / Ruoxuan Li
Cast / Christina Boosahda, Laura Virella, Patrick Cook, Marisa Lenhardt, Ann-Marie Iacoviello, Ari Andelman
Photography / Andrew Propp
Videography / David Gradin