Two Boys was quite an unforgettable experience for me, primarily because it broadened my perspectives on the nature of artistic vision. What could easily have turned into a messy, overly ambitious attempt at contemporary opera instead came together as a beautifully haunting work of art that transported me into the often-frightening, tragic, and exhilarating world that Nico Muhly had created.
I was left breathless by the natural flow of Muhly’s opera. There were no unintentional pauses or breaks from the dramatic plot line and the seamless transitions only served to heighten the opera’s already existent tension. Perhaps to the dismay of critics who believe that the use of media in performance detracts from the “liveness”–the presence–of the performers and their work, I found that the added media actually created a level of immediacy that would not otherwise be possible. The writer Walter Benjamin criticizes the “mechanical dilution of presence or liveness in a reproduction work of art” and the subsequent “depreciation of the presence of the artwork and a withering of its essential aura” (Dixon 116-17). Likewise, Peggy Phelan argues that “performance’s only life is in the present…To the degree that performance attempts to enter the economy of reproduction, it betrays and lessens the promise of its own ontology” (Dixon 123).
Benjamin and Phelan would likely be affronted by Two Boys’s elaborate and extensive use of movable projection screens to depict written reproductions of the sung online conversations between various characters and several beautifully rendered artistic images of the interconnectedness of the world wide web. Yet I found myself captivated by the brilliance in set design and by the screens’ ability to contribute to both the visual and emotional atmosphere of the opera. Whereas Benjamin believes that the liveness and aura of the artwork are diminished by the presence of reproduction, I actually thought that having the verbally sung conversations displayed on the screens behind the actors contributed greatly to the dark and lonely atmosphere of the piece and also to the potentially violent and dangerous aspects of the Internet as portrayed in the opera. There is one particularly chilling section in which Brian is contacted online by the psychotic gardener, Peter, who begins to harass and abuse him with crass sexual comments. Although in itself disturbing, this scene’s unsettling nature is underscored by the fact that Brian and Peter’s conversation is being simultaneously written out on the projection screens, revealing Peter’s possibly intentional misspellings (the one that stood out most to me was “want some cumpny?”) Contrary to Phelan’s belief that the use of reproduction lessens the performance’s state of being, Two Boys used the projection screens skillfully to represent the idea that despite the Internet’s ability to literally connect the entire world, it really only results in a disconnect among individuals. The use of media in the opera actually affirmed and strengthened this idea throughout the performance, rather than detract from it.
I was also struck by how well Nico Muhly managed to combine a discourse on the damaging effects of the Internet with a decided appreciation of its beautiful intricacy and depth. When the projection screens displayed wispy, twisted images of spiraling webs and various artistic representations of all the connections between individuals made possible by the Internet, combined with the chorus members and dancers on stage, I was awed by the accuracy and clarity of the ideas being presented. I could feel the loudness of the Internet through these images–the messy, harsh, discordant sounds of too many voices clashing at once, but also the significance of the fact that all these voices could even be existing together at once. There can be no doubt that the creation of the Internet was–and continues to be–quite the unbelievable feat. It has become such an integral part of the way society functions that it nearly has the ability to dictate both our successes and our failures as individuals.
Roland Barthes writes of how media in performance is “deeply concerned with mortality itself, with the nature, the neome of humanity” (Dixon 122). This idea could not have been made clearer than it was in Two Boys. The use of images on the projection screens and even of the video footage of Brian and Jake all contribute to demonstrate the increasing dependence of society on this media that is claimed to be unnecessary. There is a paradox in the idea that even as humanity grows tremendously, it is a growth that is often spurred on and made possible by the use of technology and media. Society has created the means for engendering its greatest triumphs and for paving the path to its greatest downfalls through the Internet. As Philip Auslander put it: “the live itself incorporates the mediatized, both technologically and epistemologically” (Dixon 124). This has come to apply not just to performance, but also to ourselves–to the fact that our liveness as a society can no longer exist without the incorporation of media. And as art so often reflects society, we see in Two Boys how the Internet takes over the lives of Brian and Jake and, by extension, that of Detective Strewson, even with her little experience and knowledge of computers. In the production of Two Boys itself the use of media is incorporated so brilliantly and so well that it becomes a natural organ in the functioning of the stage, complementing both the performers and the music with style.
Two Boys was not perfect in story and many plot aspects were not as hard-hitting or as dynamic as they could have been. But what really brought Two Boys to life was the way it tied itself together. Through its gorgeously dark and haunting music and its dynamic actors, Two Boys created a purposeful atmosphere right from the start and did an incredible job at not ever losing it. In the end, however, the piece that truly held the entire opera together for me was the set, the lighting, and the media. I can’t recall ever being more impressed or stunned by something I have seen on a stage. There really was such a liveness in Two Boys, one that I believe could only have been achieved, ironically, through its stunning use of media and reproduction.
–Norine Chan (Blog A)
Armed with bountiful facts and details regarding Two Boys, I went to the Metropolitan Opera fully prepared to love what I see. Retrospectively, I’m very glad that Two Boys by Nico Muhly was my first opera, but like Norine says there were many points I felt could have been improved on or even completely emitted. Being a rather contemporary piece, Two Boys grappled with the idea that the internet is a vast, unimaginable web hiding a secluded world that only the children of the opera seem to understand. However, I’m not quite sure what the point Muhly was trying to convey to the audience regarding the technology, specifically the internet. Perhaps he was trying to show the many dangers found on the internet, or was making commentary on the shallowness of connections made through the internet and that the anonymity of the internet causing people to act in different ways, but the themes were not very strong at all. Overall, the storyline of the opera ran like the episode of a “Law and Order” episode, except a bit to stretched out. However, where Muhly succeeded was in making me care for the plight of the characters- sadness welled in me as I heard Jake’s mother tearfully talk about her wonderful son, anger erupted when I heard Brian had actually stabbed Jake and my ears teared at the unexpected twist at the end- that everything was a lie, all created so that Jake could get closer to the one person he loved- Brian. The poignance in the understanding of what had happened was very touching; Jake tied up all the loose ends and made it so he could spend some of his last moments with the person he loves, something so ridiculous yet brave at the same time.
Understanding that the opera was set in the 1980’s, when the internet was not that well-known or established, I expected to watch the main character, the detective, go on a journey where she slowly learned about the joys and dangers of the internet. I didn’t see as much of that as I would have liked- rather, there were numerous times where she talked about Brian’s seemingly wild tale and wondering if it was true. In addition, I felt as if they made the detective rather slow- there were no deductions on her part, no initiative from her to scout around and try to understand what was going on. Even with the information given to her, it took her awhile to piece everything together, which seemed a bit unrealistic in my eyes.
One place I felt as if the opera really shined was in the music and the usage of ethnology and media. Certain scores made rather dull scenes lively and riveting; the music was perfectly matched to the scenes. I especially loved the hymns; they were so hauntingly melancholy and reminded me of the music from Anna Terese de Keersmaeker’s Cesana. I was also struck by the brilliant use of projection screens in Two Boys. Benjamin argues that use of mechanical reproductions is “…a deprecation of the presence of the artwork and a withering of its essential aura…” (Dixon 116). I disagree on that front; I believe that hearing the chat-speak sung as well as projected on the screens aptly showed the duality in conversing through the internet; the raw emotions a person has are lost in written text because of lack of human connection. Barthes, on the opposite side of the argument, says that the “…photographic image ultimately becomes a more telling and profound presence that the live performance, at least in a philosophical sense” (Dixon 122). While I might not completely agree with that sentiment, in the context of the opera and the themes that the story revolves around, it is very true. Actions and words that would have been forgotten with the passage of time are forever preserved. I personally found that the use of media enhanced the “live” aspect of the opera- though it is rather redundant to say this because the entire opera revolves around the idea of technology. As mentioned before, I feel as if the performers and the media usage were in sync with one another, neither grabbing more of the audience’s attention. One excellent example of this was when the screens projected ever-changing webs and maps of the internet, getting across the true complexity and the numerous connections that make the internet what it is now, something that was coupled with the detective’s journey into understanding computers and the internet.
In the end, while I was not completely pleased with the storyline or the dance (which I thought was absolutely dreadful and added absolutely nothing to the opera. In fact, I sometimes felt as if there was no way of connecting those angular movements to what the characters were saying. In fact, there are some gaps in my memory because I was distracted by the dancing), I still enjoyed the opera. The ambience of the opera was very nicely done with very pleasing music, excellent use of technology and stage props and the wonderful acting of all the performers. Overall, I am very glad to have gone to Two Boys and know I will jump at any future opportunities to go to the opera.