Review: Prototype’s Gorgeous IN A GROVE by Cerrone and Fleischmann Arrives in New York

The New York premiere of the Christopher Cerrone/Stephanie Fleischmann opera IN A GROVE, in Mary Birnbaum’s simply beautiful—or beautifully simple—production triumphed at La Mama Experimental Theatre Club on Saturday as part of the Prototype Festival, presented by Beth Morrison Productions, and HERE, along with La Mama.

Inspired by Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s classic story (best known from its film version, “Rashomon,” though the setting here has been changed from Japan to the Pacific Northwest) it proves that there’s more than one side to any story, especially one with “the addictive suspense of a whodunit,” as director Birnbaum says in the program. She adds that the opera asks “how does the harm we believe we have inflicted on others continue to live in us? And can those wounds ever heal?”

For those not familiar with the basic tale or any of its other incarnations, each of the characters has its own version of what happened “in a grove” when someone is found dead. Even the victim has a say, through the voice of a Medium (the eerily effective countertenor Chuanyuan Liu, who doubles as the priest).

And it’s not simply “who-dunit” but how- and why-. Call it “variations on a theme” and the theme is death, as each of the singers gives a version of exactly (or maybe not so exactly) what they witnessed happening to the man in the grove.

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the piece, for me at least, is the impact it has with a running time of less than an hour. It’s hard to imagine its being written by any other pairing than composer Cerrone and librettist Fleishmann, who seemed to “finish each other’s sentences” throughout their score. (In fact, there has been an opera version of the “Rashomon” story and at least one musical theater piece done off-Broadway in New York.)

Cerrone’s tonal music has a hypnotic, fluid quality to it that varies from scene to scene, from one role to another, matched superbly by the storytelling of Fleishmann. The cast of four did stellar work, in both acting and singing, differentiating between the two roles each of them sang. The seductive baritone of John Brancy brought both the Woodcutter and Luther Harlow to life, while Paul Appleby’s bright lyric tenor was a good match for the appealingly serene soprano of Mikaela Bennett as Ambrose and Leona Raines (doubling as well, as the Policeman and the Mother of the bride, respectively).

Birnbaum’s way of visualizing the piece (originally conceived for Pittsburgh Opera) with her collaborators seemed to give it just what it needed for maximum effect (including sound and visual haze), in its runway design by Mimi Lien with Yuki Nakase Link’s atmospheric lighting, Kristian Tchetchko’s sound design and Oana Botez’s compelling costumes. The instrumental work of the Metropolis Ensemble under conductor Luke Poeppel couldn’t have been better.

While its length might seem to make it ripe for inclusion in a double (or even triple) bill, it’s hard to imagine IN A GROVE needing something else to “fill out” an evening because it gives us so much on its own. Of course, there have been other strong-but-short pieces that found themselves in a similar position (the Met and other houses used to pair Strauss’s 100-minute SALOME with alternate one-acters, like Puccini’s GIANNI SCHICCHI!), but who would imagine doing that today?

While IN A GROVE’s run at Prototype has finished, it will be heard again this summer at Opera Saratoga, in Saratoga Springs, where Mary Birnbaum is General and Artistic Director.

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