percs.

Synopsis: “percs.” is based on a one act play from the 1920’s called “Cocaine” by Pendleton King. King was an associate of the Provincetown Players group in New York, the same group that nurtured great American playwrights like Eugene O’Neill, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Susan Glaspell. King apparently only ever wrote one play, and biographical details are otherwise scarce.

“Cocaine” is far from the best play ever written, but it does contain doomed lovers, drug addiction, prostitution, and attempted murder – in other words, all the elements of an opera. I moved the action to the present day in a non-descript midwestern American city from 1920’s New York City. I also made the characters two women, and updated the drug of choice; from King's titular drug to "percs" or prescription painkillers. Opioid addiction is a major crisis in the United States as of 2017 when this piece was composed, and is sadly--in many instances--under the radar of many people. Abuse of drugs such as Vicodin, fentanyl, oxycodone, and even heroin (not to mention amphetamine use) continues to rise in America, especially in more rural and economically stagnant parts of the country. This opera does not, however, seek to be an after-school special on addiction. Merely a slice of life. One aspect of making both characters the same gender is that the opera leaves the question open as to whether this is two women having this experience, or one person having a complete breakdown.

Any production should ask, but not answer this question.

Productions:

• Featured at the 2018 Fort Worth Opera Frontiers Festival.

• Featured by Alter Ego Chamber Opera at 2020 Philadelphia Fringe

Cast Requirements: 1 Mezzo, 1 Soprano.