IN Series brings Passion to Theatre Project
IN Series returns to Baltimore Theatre Project April 10-12 with the final production of their spring Passion Plays Festival, For Women Serving Time.
A librettist–Persian-American poet and scholar Fatemeh Keshavarz–and a composer–pianist and music director Adrienne Torf–have joined forces with director Timothy Nelson, Artistic Director of In Series, to devise an original piece of opera-theater, For Women Serving Time. The piece fuses Fauré ’s Requiem, elements of jazz, and Brechtian theatrical traditions with a Kurt Weill-informed instrumental ensemble and six accomplished singers to explore an unexpected side of the suffering and sacrifice themes of the Passion Play tradition.
Specifically, the opera-drama illuminates the lives and stories of incarcerated women in the U.S. prison system, giving voice to a population often overlooked both by their status as prisoners and as women. Notably, when Fauré premiered his Requiem in Paris in 1893, church authorities prevented him using any women’s voices in the performance; it seems both striking and fitting that In Series with this piece redresses that balance.
To illuminate these experiences and bring the characters to life–including all of the hopes, dreams, fears, frailties, and daily details that make them human–For Women combines its multiple musical, poetic, documentary, and formal sources with some echoes of the musical theater stage as well. In showcasing a half-dozen incarcerated women and their stories, one can catch hints of landmark works like Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins and the Kander and Ebb hit, Chicago.
Librettist Keshavarz joined me for a wide-ranging conversation about the project’s original inspiration that prompted her 10-page poem, the realities behind it–and the vital role that poetry, and art, can play in the world at large. You can hear our full conversation here:
And for more on the project, visit https://www.inseries.org/post/passionplays
or https://theatreproject.org/
To hear more ruminations from Fatemeh Keshavarz, you can find her on Instagram @RadioRumi2.0
