Culture Cabinet

I am admittedly not Ernest Hemingway’s biggest fan. Still, I was intrigued when I first heard of Paola Prestini’s opera adaptation of his 1952 novella, The Old Man and the Sea. It’s a very simple story, of an elderly fisherman who ends a streak of bad luck fishing by snaring a large fish that he cannot reel in. So how on Earth could anyone make a 100-minute opera out of that?

I was fortunate enough to be invited to Carolina Performing Arts to see the production by Beth Morrison Projects. Prestini’s The Old Man and the Sea, with a libretto by Royce Vavrek and direction by Karmina Šilec, has been in the works for seven years. It premiered at Arizona State University and is headed on to several other engagements after its appearance in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

When entering the theater, I was immediately struck by the unique set design (by Dorian Šilec). All curtains had been removed, exposing the back wall of the theater and giving an industrial look, as well as providing a backdrop for video projections. The lighting plot was seemingly all visible on their different rigs, which moved up and down during the performance, and there were other set pieces scattered across the stage. Most notably, shallow pools of water represented the (titular) sea.

The show’s start is slow and quiet. Without curtains opening to mark the beginning, the audience seemed almost confused. It was yet another indication that The Old Man and the Sea is far from a traditional opera. Everything in the following one hundred minutes confirms that. The mix of spoken dialogue and operatic singing weave together just as the story of Santiago, the fisherman, and Hemingway, the author, are interwoven.

This can sometimes be confusing for the audience, who have to surrender themselves to the avant-garde nature of the production. It’s most enjoyable if you stop trying to understand everything that is going on and embrace it for what it is. The staging fluctuates between unnerving stillness and a lot happening at once.

Set pieces are moved around, actors walk on walking pads, and water is sprayed from a hose. Jeffrey Zeigler excellently plays cello onstage, while Shayna Dunkelman plays percussion in the pit. Just when you think you understand what’s going on, another surprise arises — like a person in a shark costume.

The music is in a mix of English and Spanish, fitting for a story that takes place in Cuba. All of the performers are remarkably talented, particularly Armando Contreras as Hemingway/Santiago and Rudy Giron as Manolin. Some of the songs are more traditionally operatic, while others (like the one about baseball) seem more musical theatre-inspired.

Prestini’s opera is a fresh take on Hemingway’s story. It teases out themes of the work — religion, aging, our relationship with the ocean — in an interesting new way. Whether you’re a fan of the novella or not, The Old Man and the Sea will make you see Hemingway’s work in a whole new light.

For more information on The Old Man and the Sea, you can visit Prestini’s website.