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Eat The Document: a new work of music theater

About

In the heyday of the seventies underground, Bobby DeSoto and Mary Whittaker – passionate, idealistic, and in love – design a series of radical protests against the Vietnam War. When one action goes wrong, the course of their lives is forever changed. The two must erase their past, forge new identities, and never see one another again.

Now it is the 1990s. Mary lives in the suburbs with her fifteen-year-old son, Jason, who spends hours immersed in the music of his mother’s generation. She has no idea where Bobby is, whether he is alive or dead. A few towns away, an aging hippie calling himself Nash presides over an anarchist bookstore, drawing the disaffected youth of the next generation into a shifting series of “groups” and “collectives.” Miranda, alone among the kids who frequent the bookstore, takes Nash seriously.

Shifting between the protests in the 1970s and the consequences of those choices in the 1990s, Eat the Document explores the connection between the two eras — their language, technology, music, and activism.

Duration: 90 minutes, no intermission
Roles: Eight singers, playing multiple characters
Instrumentation: Band of seven (Music Director/piano, string quartet, drum set/percussion, acoustic/electric guitar)

Protestors holding Dont Cry Resist banner at 1968 Abortion Rights demonstration, NYC, photo by Bev Grant, used by permission.

Creative Team

John Glover, composer

Described as “an unabashedly expressive composer,” (New Yorker) John Glover has received commissions from organizations including Houston Grand Opera, On Site Opera, New York Youth Symphony, American Composers Orchestra, Washington National Opera, Milwaukee Opera Theatre, and American Conservatory Theater. His work has been presented in venues ranging from Rockwood Music Hall to Carnegie Hall, The Invisible Dog to Rothko Chapel.

 

Kelley Rourke, librettist

Kelley Rourke is a librettist, translator and dramaturg. Her work has been commissioned and performed by the Metropolitan Opera, English National Opera, Washington National Opera, The Glimmerglass Festival, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Seattle Opera, Minnesota Opera, Carnegie Hall, Met LiveArts, and Houston Grand Opera, among others. Kelley is resident dramaturg for The Glimmerglass Festival and Artistic Advisor for Washington National Opera’s American Opera Initiative.

 

Kristin Marting, director

Kristin Marting is a director of hybrid work based in NYC. Over the last 25 years, she has constructed 29 stage works, including 9 original hybrid works, 6 opera-theatre and music-theatre works, 9 reimaginings of novels and short stories and 5 classic plays. Kristin has directed 19 works at HERE and also premiered works at BAM, 3LD, Ohio Theatre, and Soho Rep. Kristin is Founding Artistic Director of HERE and Co-Founding Director of Prototype Festival.

 

Mila Henry, music director

Mila Henry is a conductor, pianist and music director, as well as Artistic Director of Brooklyn-based company The American Opera Project (AOP). Hailed “a stalwart contributor to the contemporary opera scene” (Opera Ithaca), she provides musical dramaturgy to AOP works in development and serves as Head of Music for their renowned Composers & the Voice training program for composers and librettists. Outside of AOP, Mila maintains an active and versatile career, leading works spanning rock musicals to folk operas to reimagined classics.

Protestors holding Dont Cry Resist banner at 1968 Abortion Rights demonstration, NYC, photo by Bev Grant, used by permission.

Artistic Collaborators

Justine Aronson

https://www.justinearonson.com/about

 

Gelsey Bell

https://gelseybell.com/bio/

 

Christian Mark Gibbs

https://www.christianmarkgibbs.com/bio

 

Amy Justman

https://www.amyjustman.com/company

 

Paul Pinto

http://www.pfpinto.com/bio/

 

Jonathan Woody

https://www.athloneartists.com/artists/jonathan-woody/



Catherine Brookman https://www.catherinebrookman.com

Caleb Alexander Wright  https://calebawright.github.io

Tesia Kwarteng  https://www.tesiakwarteng.com

Terrance Johnson https://www.terranceljohnson.com

Tim Russell  https://www.tjrussell.org

 

Shayna Dunkleman  https://www.shaynadunkelmanmusic.com

Abi Fayette https://catalystquartet.com/abi-fayette

Rachel Shapiro

Jessica Meyer

Andrew Yee https://www.andrewyeecellist.com

Liz Faure

Listen

in-process and live excerpts from ‘Eat The Document’

Watch

Excerpts from ‘Eat The Document’ performed at Joe’s Pub at The Public Theater in NYC