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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'In the weeks following Sept 11, five young women present separately to hospitals in New York with identical symptoms. They are unable to swallow, and believe that some debris or body part from the destruction has lodged in their throats. The surgeon who examines them finds no obstruction.
'The Howling Girls is a new chamber opera dissecting the medium and metaphor of the voice, its loss and attempted reconstitution. A solo voice constricted, wheezing, stammering, in decay, a teenage chorus of howling girls, an absent mass, an unearthly theremin, a spectacle of fragmented bodies and voices. A sublime aural and perceptual encounter.' (Production summary)
Production Details
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World premiere presented by Sydney Chamber Opera. Performed at Carriageworks Bay 20, Eveleigh, New South Wales : 28 March - 7 April 2018.
Composer : Damien Ricketson
Musical Director : Jack Symonds
Director : Adena Jacobs
Set & Costume Design : Eugyeene Teh
Lighting Design : Jenny Hector
Sound Design : Bob Scott
With
Jane Sheldon and teenagers from
The House that Dan Built: Grace Campbell,
Kittu Hoyne, Kiri Jenssen, Emily Pincock,
Jayden Selvakumaraswamy, Sylvie Woodhouse
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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Other Utterances
2021
single work
essay
— Appears in: Axon : Creative Explorations , July vol. 11 no. 1 2021; 'In this paper I examine three recent performance works where poetic language has been extended beyond words to evoke the body in unusual, speculative and potentially transformative ways. The works I will reference are: The Howling Girls (2018), an opera by Adena Jacobs and Damien Ricketson; Speechless (2019), an opera created by Cat Hope; and a series of participatory performances by Catherine Clover. The works all have in common a goal to push poetic language to extreme or unusual places as a way to explore subjects such as loss, trauma and fear, but also possibility, transformation and renewal. The paper will analyse techniques used by the artists; discuss the impact and effect of the various approaches; and argue for the way performance works are uniquely placed to employ poetic language in this way.' (Introduction) -
Australian Opera The Howling Girls Takes Inspiration from Haunting 9/11 Anecdote
2018
single work
column
— Appears in: ABC News [Online] , March 2018;'In the immediate aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, five gaunt young women — strangers to each other — presented at a Manhattan hospital with the same symptoms: their throats were constricted and they couldn't swallow.' (Introduction)
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The Remarkable Story of Terrorism and Trauma That Inspired a New Opera
2018
single work
column
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 28 March 2018;'Young girls who presented to hospital literally choking from the horror of September 11 have been given voice in a startling Australian production.'
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The Remarkable Story of Terrorism and Trauma That Inspired a New Opera
2018
single work
column
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 28 March 2018;'Young girls who presented to hospital literally choking from the horror of September 11 have been given voice in a startling Australian production.'
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Australian Opera The Howling Girls Takes Inspiration from Haunting 9/11 Anecdote
2018
single work
column
— Appears in: ABC News [Online] , March 2018;'In the immediate aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, five gaunt young women — strangers to each other — presented at a Manhattan hospital with the same symptoms: their throats were constricted and they couldn't swallow.' (Introduction)
-
Other Utterances
2021
single work
essay
— Appears in: Axon : Creative Explorations , July vol. 11 no. 1 2021; 'In this paper I examine three recent performance works where poetic language has been extended beyond words to evoke the body in unusual, speculative and potentially transformative ways. The works I will reference are: The Howling Girls (2018), an opera by Adena Jacobs and Damien Ricketson; Speechless (2019), an opera created by Cat Hope; and a series of participatory performances by Catherine Clover. The works all have in common a goal to push poetic language to extreme or unusual places as a way to explore subjects such as loss, trauma and fear, but also possibility, transformation and renewal. The paper will analyse techniques used by the artists; discuss the impact and effect of the various approaches; and argue for the way performance works are uniquely placed to employ poetic language in this way.' (Introduction)
