This weekend, Thompson Street Opera Company concludes its second season in Louisville with
Ile
, a new work by Ezra Donner based on the Eugene O’Neill play.
A sung drama in one act,
Ile
follows the whaling ship Atlantic Queen that has been at sea for nearly two years. Despite deleterious weather conditions and the pleading of his wife and crew, the obsessive Captain Keeney insists that the vessel will not return to shore until it secures a cargo full of whale oil. According to one contemporary critic, O’Neill’s original work represents his “taste for tragic irony” and his “concern with dangerous obsession that resembles the hubris of classic tragedy.”
Fresh off its premiere in Bloomington last month, Donner’s interpretation of
Ile
comes to Louisville as a part of Thompson Street’s initiative of showcasing new works by living artists. You may recall [4], the Thompson Street Opera Company began three years ago as the brainchild of then University of Michigan voice student Claire DiVizio who sought to present new stage works of living composers. In fact, the Company’s inaugural production in 2011 featured the world premiere of Donner’s
Antigone
.
Enthusiastic for its novel approach, motivated artists and audiences have been drawn to Thompson Street ever since.
Performances are all this weekend at
VAULT1031
on S.
6th
Street.
Showtimes
are tonight (June
6th
) and tomorrow (June
7th
) at 8 pm as well as Sunday, June
8th
at 2 pm. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students. They can be purchased online here [5].
(Photo courtesy of
www.thompsonstreetopera.org
.)
Follow Michael on Twitter: @rackoflambert [7].