It’s taken years to get here. But “The Handmaid’s Tale” has finally arrived at San Francisco Opera.
Based on the landmark 1985 novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood, this intensely dramatic work is one of the fall season’s major attractions. Composed by Poul Ruders, with a libretto by Paul Bentley, the 1998 opera receives its long-awaited Bay Area premiere September 14 at the War Memorial Opera House in a co-production with the Royal Danish Theatre. Directed by John Fulljames with mezzo-soprano Irene Roberts in the starring role of Offred, seven performances are on the calendar, continuing through Oct. 1.
Set in a dystopian future where women are relegated to childbearing servitude by a theocratic regime, it’s the kind of opera that creates a gripping atmosphere. More than 30 years since Atwood’s novel was published — and more than 25 years since the opera premiered — “The Handmaid’s Tale” continues to cast a dark, unsettling spell.
Like the novel, the story centers on Offred, a woman living in the repressive society of Gilead, where women are named for their husbands (“of Fred,” in Offred’s case), and are closely observed — and severely limited — in their everyday movements.
Fear turns to panic when Offred’s daughter goes missing.
Roberts, an American artist whose previous roles at San Francisco Opera include the title role of “Carmen” and Bao Chai in the company’s world premiere production of “Dream of the Red Chamber,” says that Offred is one of the most challenging roles she’s taken on. She speaks of the character with admiration.
“She’s determined, she’s a fighter,” she said, “and she’s in crisis mode, trying to find her daughter. This opera is set in the future — but it feels like it could be today.”
The opera’s libretto takes a slightly different point of view of the novel’s Offred, she adds, which enhances the drama. “She’s in a world where everything’s happening to her,” said Roberts. “I think she’s slightly more passive. She doesn’t take risks. The music supports a more sensitive side of her — it shows vulnerability, and pain, along with her drive.”
Director Fulljames served as Director of Opera at Royal Danish Opera when “The Handmaid’s Tale” premiered there in 2000. It’s since been performed at English National Opera, Minnesota Opera, and Toronto’s Canadian Opera Company. Fulljames said that Rouders and Bentley imbued the story with contemporary resonance.
“It very immediately comes to earth onstage in our world,” he said. “What we decided to do conceptually was update the book from 1985 to something set just a few years in the future. And when the adaptation was made, it was in the early 2000s; it’s very much our world. I think that’s important, that it’s not a historical document; it’s rather future-facing.”
Like the novel, the opera is narrated by Offred, and Fulljames, who is now Director of Oxford University’s Humanities Cultural Programme, said that Roberts was an ideal choice for the role.
“Irene is an incredibly skilled performer,” he said. “This is a hard role, technically; the music is challenging to learn and to make natural. She never leaves the stage; she’s there all night, and every single thing that happens, it’s her thoughts, her memories, her flashbacks. It’s a one-woman show, with the addition of 15 other soloists, the chorus, a children’s chorus and an orchestra of 80. It’s probably the biggest one-woman show in history.”
Fulljames also sees Atwood’s novel, and the opera it inspired, as works of global resonance — with perhaps even more significance today than when “The Handmaid’s Tale” first appeared.
“I do think it’s a global novel, an international novel,” he said. “Gilead is clearly sited in a part of the States. But I think it’s by no means limited to North America. It makes a powerful connection with audiences. It really underlines the purpose of theater. Why do we need to come into an auditorium for a shared experience? It’s to have conversations which are necessary as a society. For everybody on the team, this feels like a very important piece.”
Contact Georgia Rowe at growe@pacbell.net
‘THE HANDMAID’S TALE’
Composed by Poul Ruders, libretto by Paul Bentley, based on the Margaret Atwood novel, presented by San Francisco Opera
When: Saturday through Oct. 1
Where: War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco Opera
Tickets: $28-$438, $27.50 livestream; sfopera.com
