Review: (Toronto / Opera) Hercules

Richard Croft, Lucy Crowe (Photo: Michael Cooper)

Suspicious Minds
by Shannon Christy

"When there is peace, the warlike man attacks himself."  
Frederick Nietzsche  

Peter Sellars has taken this idea and set it in the present day United States to present us with George Frederic Handel’s Hercules. Mr. Sellars is exposing a nerve regarding America’s troubled veterans which is made the more poignant because of another tragic shooting in Fort Hood, Texas where three soldiers were killed by a veteran suffering from post traumatic stress disorder this past week.

The story revolves around Hercules’, (Eric Owens), triumphant return to his wife Dejanira, (Alice Coote) with a captive princess Iole, (Lucy Crowe).  In most productions this is a simple love triangle.  However, Mr Sellars has deliberately twisted and transformed this love triangle and provided us with a fourth menacing element, the war, as an explanation of what is tearing apart this fearsome man, his loving wife, and the beautiful captive. 

Sunday Feature: Joel Ivany on working with Peter Sellars and Hercules

(centre) Lucy Crowe as Iole and Richard Croft as Hyllus in the Canadian Opera Company/Lyric Opera of Chicago (LOC) co-production of Hercules, 2011, LOC. Photo: Dan Rest

Sold on Sellars
by Joel Ivany
@joelivany

Stage director Joel Ivany is the founder and artistic director of Against the Grain Theatre (AtG). He was a recent finalist and prizewinner in the European Opera-Directing Prize for his concept of Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi with designers Camellia Koo and Jason Hand. Recent directing credits include a new production of Verdi's Macbeth at Minnesota Opera, staging Handel’s beloved oratorio Messiah with AtG, Così fan tutte for The Banff Centre, a new production of Les contes d'Hoffmann for Edmonton Opera, revival director of Le nozze di Figaro at the Norwegian National Opera, knotty together (a new work composed by Njo Kong Kie and performed in Dublin, Ireland) and the world premiere of Gavin Bryars’ Marilyn Forever, based on the life of Marilyn Monroe, in Victoria, BC. He has also served as associate director for Thaddeus Strassberger's acclaimed production of Nabucco at both Washington National Opera and Minnesota Opera. Mr. Ivany holds a music degree from the University of Western Ontario and an artist diploma in opera directing from the University of Toronto. Upcoming projects include directing the world premiere of East o’ the Sun and West o’ the Moon for the Canadian Children’s Opera Company, creating and directing Uncle John, AtG’s modern interpretation of Don Giovanni, for The Banff Centre and directing Carmen for Vancouver Opera.  

There were two directors that everyone kept talking about, and I knew that I had to work with them.  

Robert Carsen and Peter Sellars.  

As a young student just out of the University of Toronto’s Opera School, how was I going to make that happen?  They didn’t have websites and didn’t have email addresses or phone numbers (that I had). Regardless, I focused on my goal and set forth, striving to meet it along with several others. Within a few years, I had the opportunity to work with Robert Carsen in Oslo, Norway (of all places) and since, have had several occasions and in a few different countries. 

After seeing Peter Sellars’ productions of the Mozart/Da Ponte operas, I knew that he was someone different.  I thought it was a huge coup when the Canadian Opera Company announced that they were bringing his production of Tristan und Isolde to Toronto.  I was fortunate enough to see it last season in Toronto and was excited to learn that he was coming back with his production of Hercules, a COC co-production with the Lyric Opera Chicago. As the schedule permitted, I was overjoyed that I could work on this fabulous show with an outstanding cast and that Peter Sellars was going to be in Toronto for the entire period of production.