Bovinus Rex
By: Rudolf Rojahn
Directed by: Copeland Woodruff
Design by: Julia Noulin-Mérat
Showtimes:
May 2012Location:
The Zack Box TheaterThe Boston Conservatory
Ticket Price Information: Tickets for this show are not yet on sale.
$15/$10/Free to Students with Valid I.D.
Synopsis: Pickens Picking’s Farm, a factory farm for cattle in rural Ohio, faces imminent bank foreclosure. With only a trophy wife and a slow-witted man child as laborers the owner and operator, Maurice Pickens, invents a machine to quickly slaughter his herd. Trouble unfolds when his long-lost daughter Flavia, now a militant animal rights activist, returns disguised as a heifer to sabotage her father’s operation. As events begin to spin out of control Flavia is forced to confront the practicality of her once-puritanical worldview.
Note from the Composer: Several years ago I had become very interested in animal rights and issues surrounding the production of our food in America. There were a plethora of horrors and injustices to be found and it didn’t take long to become morally outraged. On deeper examination it became more and more clear however, that mistreatment and a certain moral relativism was present not just in American agribusiness but in the entire construct in which animals provide us food and other products. There is no way to live in our society with completely clean hands because the use of animals as commodities is inextricably interwoven with our societies and historical success as a species. That creates a paradigm in which everyone must decide for themselves what an acceptable amount of suffering is, a decision dictated not only by ethics but by social and financial factors as well.
There is a beauty to black and white, righteous moral positions but they usually disregard the knotty complexity of real life. As a younger man I felt much more confident in the value of moral certitudes. Like fundamentalist religions however, the simplification of multi-faceted issues usually creates more problems and injustices than it ultimately resolves.
A large impetus for writing this story was to investigate both the beauty and danger of fanatical belief and the moral righteousness of youth; a study of how our identities are defined by the issues and beliefs we hold dear. (Rudolf Rojahn)
Talk-backs
Talk-backs with the composer, director, and Guerilla Opera ensemble will be directly after performances; at The Boston Conservatory’s Zack Box Theater.
Opening Night Reception
Celebrate the world premiere performance of Bovinus Rex and closing of Guerilla Opera’s 2011-2012 season with the whole team at fun reception!
We’re eager to talk about our experiences producing this world premiere opera, and to have you be the first to hear news of Guerilla Opera events this season!
$60.00 Admission
The SideBar Lounge at the Sheraton Boston (39 Dalton Street, Boston, MA 02199)
Directly after the world premiere performance!
TICKETS AVAILABLE SOON!
Special Thanks
Guerilla Opera’s 2012-2013 season is made possible through the generosity of our Premiere Production Underwriters Timothy & Jane Gillette, and The Boston Conservatory where Guerilla Opera is an Ensemble-in-Residence and performs in the Zack Box Theater.