A Marriage Below Zero - opera libretto - 1. Set up and staging notes

LIBRETTO

A

Marriage Below Zero

Opera Corale della Danza

in Three Acts[1]

"Such are the powers of partners –

To breed contempt of death,

To transmute the desires of life,

To humanize cruelty,

To turn hate towards love,

And subsume lust for punishment

Into the acceptance of mercy."

Valerius Maximus

De Amicitiae Vinculo[2]

Personal note:

There is too much to be said in a brief note, so I have provided an essay on Cohen’s work as an appendix. That being said, any cursory perusal of the opinions of Cohen’s novel will strike one as confused. Is it a comedy? Is it a drama? It is tragedy..? The answer is: Yes! It’s the kind of book that anyone can read and have a personal experience with. This results in varied views on what the book, and Cohen, was trying to say. And so it was for the many contemporary commentators who published book reviews in 1889 – one thinking it a light and frolicsome read, another thinking it a grave, and learn-by-example cautionary tragedy.

Multiple readings of the book reward in manifold ways – with ever more details, and with ever more tie-ins.

The first time I read it, I was not at all prepared for it to be as good as it is. I was truly impressed by the quality of Elsie’s voice. She is the unflagging protagonist who relates every nuance of her thinking, but refuses to be mawkish – a girl who hates all sentimentality, but cannot escape her own very sentimental times. If somehow all context was lost on who wrote this novel, and when it was published, I am confident it would be categorized as a post-Victorian work of modern fiction, one pointedly critical of that sentimental age. It is quite frankly more believable, and thus, more comforting to conceive of it that way.[3] It is overall too biting, too self-aware of the emotionally bankrupt era to have earned much respect from 1889 mindsets. In other words, it never received the credit it was due.

The true merits of the book lie in Elsie, Elsie and Elsie. She never flinches – never pulls any punches, never conceals her own foolish actions. She also never spins idle speculation, and thus we ‘see’ only what she saw. She draws no conclusions; doing that is all up to us.[4] It was only after multiple readings that I realized the fullness of Elsie’s motivation for writing her account – it is one of absolution. Her writing of this tale is her struggle to forgive herself. Here we have the twenty-something Elsie processing the culpability of the teenage Elsie’s mistakes – this is the locus of the book, and has caused me to divide the characters out from each other. In this opera, Mrs. Ravener is our sage guide to the actions of a foolish Elsie’s heart.

Like any great book, there is much more in A Marriage Below Zero than can ever be brought to the surface, arguably more than even its author knew.

In addition to the essay (Appendix 1), where I discuss some of my choices for this libretto, try to plumb the depths of Cohen’s intentions, and relate to what contemporary Gay readers easily keyed into, I have provided other appendices. One documents my notes in the form of a chapter-by-chapter break down of the novel (Appendix 2). I created this abstract of the book before I attempted to write even one line of this libretto, or even outline its dramatic structure.

I also needed the visual impetus of what people of their class were expected to wear, and consequently, the way they held themselves, moved, et al (Appendix 3). Through this particular research I have learned just what an unusual time the 1880’s were. In women’s fashion, a dichotomy of daring and stodginess commingled. There appeared the never-before-attempted plunging neckline, and sleeveless evening gowns to push the envelope and reveal more skin than at any other time in the Victorian era. In this same vein, a freeness was attained with a new love of neoclassical-style fabric draping in soft and spring-like colors – but, (and as Elsie says) there is always a 'but' – women of the time were forced into ever more constraining corsets and could not even appear in public without one, and oddly enough, the bustle was resurrected. Why should this be odd? Because the bustle, only invented in the 1870’s, had just gone out of fashion, and here, only a few years later, it was back in full force. It seems to me that the very daring of the new ‘freedom’ in women’s fashion was tempered deliberately with an also-ran item from a few years previous. This same spirit is found in men’s fashion in the very brave fad of going out in public without any neckwear. How this bold thumb-in-the-face of convention started, I do not know. But its motivations seem clear – to assert that a new generation, a progressive generation, had arrived.

I have three additional appendices. One illustrating some of the many 19^th century portrayals, both literary and visual, of Damon and Pythias (Appendix 4); one showing some of the incidental locations mentioned by Cohen (Appendix 5); and a final one containing a scene with a restored number that was cut for Mrs. Ravener (Appendix 6).

Personaggi

Refer to Appendix 3 for 1880’s fashions.

MAMMA: – (pronounced ma-MA) Contralto. Mid-thirties to mid-forties mother of Elsie. Mrs. Bouverie is a widow and pillar of London Society. She has conflicted feelings about her station; one, enjoying the privilege only her age can provide, and two, seeking to hide all signs of that age. She dresses in all the current trends, wears her hair in the style of teenage girls, but walks with steady dignity and poise. She never understood her daughter. Elsie is athema to all she stands for, and would like her to be set up in own house, far away from Mamma. She is a quiet observer, not prone to gossip, but ready to pull out a well-reasoned opinion at the drop of a hat. In many ways she is the very model of the Victorian age itself, a combined mix of indirect sentimentality and cold-steel pragmatism. (When she mentions Elsie’s Papa, it is naturally pronounced pa-PA.)

MRS. RAVENER: – Mezzo-Soprano. Twenty-five year old woman learning how to love herself again. She is our guide to her story, observant and cool to the facts that happened, but deeply aware of the seven years of torment that separate the events from the time of telling. She dresses with a bit more restraint than her mother, but refuses to either dress like a widow or a teenager. She cannot understand her mother, but grudgingly respects the sage advise she can offer. A trapped victim of her time, she hates the over-the-top ‘flower language’ of her age, and should have been born in the plain-spoken modern era. She wears a thin black shawl on her shoulders and whenever she is relating the most painful feelings of her experience, she grips it tightly around her as if it is grief itself. In Act Three, she passes this mantel to Elsie.

ELSIE: – Soprano. Eighteen year old woman anxious to ‘start living.’ Elsie Bouverie finds it a challenge to relate to anyone. Her father dying when she was five, left her with only a nanny and a distant mother. Bundled away to boarding school at age Eight (the youngest possible age), she related poorly to her classmates, feeling they acted ‘too young’ for her taste. Going ‘home’ during school holidays, she inevitably wished to be back at school. Now, just ‘finished,’ she is stuck at her mother’s home, and is anxious to use the odious social system to connect with a pragmatic man, whom she can marry and be free of Mamma. Unfortunately every man she meets acts the dullard, and can seem to talk of nothing except how pretty she is, and sigh, and make cow eyes at her.

LETTY: – Soprano. Nineteen year Letty Bishop is enjoying her second year ‘out,’ and shepherding her school friend, Elsie, through the hazards of her first year in the London social world. Letty latched on to Elsie when she first arrived at school and has always felt a little protective over a friend she somewhat pities. She pities Elsie because – though beautiful, young and so intelligent – Elsie is clueless to the ways of the world. She believes she’s has hit upon a way to show Elsie how bad it could be, then is horrified to see her plan backfire. She and Mamma trust that Elsie knows exactly what she is doing, but degree-by-degree, they realize just how naïve Elsie really has been

ARTHUR: – Lyric Tenor. Twenty-five year old Arthur Ravener is a man of means. He is fair-haired, athletic of build, sports a youthful mustache and goatee, and is devoted to Dill. Arthur is a central figure – pressured by his empathy with Elsie, and his desire to assist Dill with his future ambitions, he has a definite arc. Beginning on top of the world, with a happy and well-adjusted disposition, he slides to the state of being anxious, then nervous, and ultimately to a person suffering and paralyzed by Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. His actions go from self-assured, to questioning, to paranoid and desperate.

This is ironic, because when the events open, he has everything he wants in life – Dill, and the security of his estate and good family name. He is not so interested in Society, politics, or even in passing. He most wishes to carve out a space where Dill and he can breathe, live, and be themselves. The constant, though at first gentle, pressure to ‘pass’ in straight society, per Dill’s ideas, causes a severe schism in his psyche.

DILL: – Baritone. Twenty-eight year old Captain Jack Dillington is an officer of the Royal Horse Guards. Well-built, tall with dark features and hair, he cuts a dashing figure. Elsie instinctively finds him a threat, and regards him as abhorrent. A defender of the weak and picked upon, he mentored and protected Arthur through the long years of their boarding school life, then was elated when his love for Arthur became requited. Having already spent more than half their lives together as partners, he cannot bear the thought of Arthur even being in danger. He is crushed when his plans threaten to do the one thing he thought he was protecting them from. He dislikes Elsie because in many ways she is like him, and offers a subtle, if not realistic, rival to Arthur’s affections. He has to swallow a bit of his arrogance if he ever has a chance to put things right.

MARIE: – Soprano (sung by the same actress as Letty Bishop). Mid-twenties French lady's maid, and Elsie’s lone companion through most of her married life in Kew. Marie is a mixture of Gallic shock and disapproval for the suppressed emotional life of English women. Her attempts to soothe Elsie only highlight Elsie’s misery to Elsie. As a lady’s maid she wears no uniform, but neat, trim, and unadorned house dresses. In her morning activities, she may wear a pinafore. Her hair should always be up.[5]

CORO: – Divided operatic chorus of Sopranos, Altos, Tenors and Bass. The CORO plays three functions.

- First, as mystics who can see the end result of this drama. In this regard they assume the voice of the poet. This function occurs during the epigrafe verses that open scenes in the First and Third Acts. The epigraph strophes are conceived of as being delivered plain, without recapitulation, and with minimal musical accompaniment.

- Second, as engaged narrators in the recitativo-narrativo sections.

Here they convey progress of time, what some characters are thinking, feeling, etc. They have an above-the-fray detachment, and insider knowledge of what is happening.

- Third, as characters on stage in the drama. They comment on the here and now, interact with the other characters, and have no idea what is going to happen next.

When functioning in the first two manners, they are positioned on stage, but to the right and left of the central scene in the flank positions. When here, and singing, they are but dimly lit. For costumes, from the beginning until the intermission, they are in evening clothes – white tie for the men and ball gowns for the women. After the intermission until the end, they are in street clothes – sack suites for the men and day dresses for the women.

Sceneggiatura di Azione

Set up:

There are ten total scenes, five before intermission; five after. Several scenes open with a brief pre-scene, usually of Mrs. Ravener and/or the Coro setting up the action to follow. Usually these scenes are preformed before the scrim, and many show us Arthur and Dill’s private moments. There is one post-scene that forms a Licenza to end the opera. Each set requires space on the flanks for the chorus to assemble and perform the epigrafe and recitativo-narrativo. Perhaps a pair of turntables should be provided for the Coro so they may be exited noiselessly and with minimal distraction to the audience. When in the flank positions and performing, the Coro should be seen, but lit only darkly.

The three acts break down by location as – Act One, London; Act Two, Kew and Act Three, New York.

This is a dance drama, and consequently, there is a high level of evocative dance movements within this opera inspired by the traditions of Japanese theater. Movements should be deliberate, generally slow and convey inner feelings, especially for action occurring during ensemble numbers. Emphasis should be placed on upper body movement as this is both in the tradition of the inspiration, and somehow suitable, in my view, to how Victorians would express themselves physically.

Scenes and Properties:

Act One requires a well-appointed library/sitting room in Mrs. Bouverie’s house. This room requires seating, and a wall mirror for Mrs. Bouverie’s vanity. In addition, an opulent ballroom is needed, with a baby grand piano on casters.

Act Two requires a set with a sitting room. Here, stage center rear, two sets of French doors lead out to a fine garden. This room has seating and contains Arthur’s desk. The garden scene requires the exterior side of the salon French doors, as well as plantings and a bench stage center front.[6] The end of the act must provide a sparse sitting room in Arthur’s rented house – a mantel, a sofa, but no pictures, rugs, etc.

Act Three requires a lower Manhattan street scene with the columned portico of a hotel. It also requires a hotel suite with central sitting room containing seating and a round table for taking meals. Some small luggage is required for this Act as well.

Timing:

Action begins in the spring of 1889 as Mrs. Ravener recalls a time seven years previous when she first met Arthur. The rest of the action takes place over an 18-month period starting in 1882.

Musical Setting note:

The meters used throughout the poem generally indicate the delivery style/tempo intended for the stage action. Eight-syllable lines, or octovo, are meant to follow the natural cadence of everyday speaking tempo, while decreases in the syllable count of individual lines show progressively slower, and more contemplative action. So, for example, a four-syllable line should take twice as long in performance as an eight-syllable recitative line. All the recitatives are conceived of as being fully accompanied by the orchestra.

Pronunciation note:

In addition to ma-MA and pa-PA, Pythias must, for the performance of this opera, be pronounced as PIE-thee-us.