2022 Fringe Festival Elevates New and Rarely Performed Works of Opera and Theatre
BU Opera Institute and School of Theatre continue the Fringe collaboration with operas Our Town and La hija de Rappaccini, and a new play by Kirsten Greenidge
Plus, the Next Stage Workshops & Plays, a series of workshops, scenes, and plays, presented by the School of Theatre New Play Initiative and directed by undergraduate directors.
Now in its 26th season, the Fringe Festival at Boston University once again brings together BU Opera Institute and College of Fine Arts School of Theatre in a unique collaboration of new or rarely performed significant works in the opera and theatre repertoire.
The 2022 operas include La hija de Rappaccini, inspired the eponymous play by Octavio Paz and a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and an opera based on one of the most well-known and influential plays of the 20th century, Our Town, which features the Boston University Chamber Orchestra.
Fringe Festival closes in November with a production of a new play by playwright and associate professor of theatre Kirsten Greenidge, Little Row Boat or, Conjecture*. The play is set as French Revolution brews, and teenage slave Sally Hemings gets her first taste of freedom while serving in Thomas Jefferson’s Paris home. The production originally slated for Spring 2020 and postponed due to pandemic closures finally gets its debut at BU.
Also included in the Fringe lineup is a selection of workshops, scenes, and plays, presented by the School of Theatre New Play Initiative. These Next Stage pieces are directed by undergraduate directors, presented with the intention to develop as the next step in the fruition of these new works by BU students.
You’re invited to experience the innovation and artistry at this year’s performances! Learn more about the works and find performance tickets below.
Fringe Festival 2023
A co-production of BU Opera Institute and School of Theatre
La hija de Rappaccini
OCTOBER 21 – 23, 2022
Studio ONE
Composed by Daniel Catán
Music Director • Allison Voth
Stage Director • Rose Freeman
Daniel Catán’s opera La hija de Rappaccini is set to a libretto by Juan Tovar, inspired the eponymous play by Octavio Paz and the short story, Rappaccini’s Daughter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Set in 15th century Padua, Italy, the passionate quest for power and eternal life by botanist and physician, Dr. Rappaccini, is questioned and challenged by those around him. Are his scientific dreams altruistic or barbaric? Dr. Rappaccini‘s magical research garden proves a powerful force over his daughter, Beatriz, and her new young lover, Giovanni, bringing to the forefront the ageless battle between good and evil. Will Dr. Rappaccini sacrifice his daughter in the name of science, or free her in the name if love and humanity?
Sung in Spanish with English supertitles.
Our Town
OCTOBER 28 – 29, 2022
CFA Concert Hall
Composed by Ned Rorem
Music Director • William Lumpkin
Stage Director • Nathan Troup
One of the most well-known and influential plays of the 20th century, the opera by Ned Rorem and J. D. McClatchy reflects Thornton Wilder’s sparsity and intimacy in a powerful way. Featuring the Boston University Chamber Orchestra.
Sung in English.
Little Row Boat or, Conjecture*
NOVEMBER 4 – 6, 2022
Studio ONE
As the French Revolution brews outside, teenage slave Sally Hemings gets her first taste of freedom while serving in Thomas Jefferson’s Paris home. Inside, she becomes involved in one of the most speculated about and scandalous relationships in American history. With verve, humor, and music, playwright Kirsten Greenidge imagines how events unfolded in the Jefferson household for the family and “servants” alike. Little Row Boat is a visceral and intricate story of convictions, contradictions, and sacrifice in the pursuit of liberty. (Bret Adams)
NEXT STAGE WORKSHOPS AND PLAYS
Studios on 3
The School of Theatre New Play Initiative presents a series of Next Stage workshops, scenes, and plays. These Next Stage pieces will be directed by undergraduate directors and will flower as the next step in the fruition of these new plays by BU students.
The nature of the presentation and the work is determined by the needs of the play. Curated by Kirsten Greenidge, this “on-its-feet” workshop or play experience focuses on different areas of the writing or specific parts of a project in the process of development.
Salome
David Copeland Black Box Theatre
SEPTEMBER 24 – 25, 2022
By Trevor Turnbow
Director • Julian Simmons
Mother May I?
OCTOBER 8 – 9, 2022
David Copeland Black Box Theatre
By Dylan Avillanoza
Director • Lila Heller
Against A Village
OCTOBER 22 – 23, 2022
By Elliot Dupcak
Director • Matthew Swain
About the Fringe Festival
The Boston University Fringe Festival is a collaboration between the College of Fine Arts School of Music: Opera Institute and School of Theatre. The festival’s mission is to produce new or rarely performed significant works in the opera and theatre repertoire, bringing performances and audiences together in unique theatrical settings. For over two decades, Fringe Festival at Boston University has celebrated and amplified new work, shown in spare and minimal productions.