Nico Muhly’s Two Boys, a contemporary opera that had its American debut last week, tells the story of the stabbing of a thirteen year old boy named Jake and his relationship with the suspect, a sixteen year-old boy, Brian. As my first opera, I had many prenotions of how unbearable the performance would be based on previous classes in classical music. However, the themes, characters and the set really brought the whole piece together in an amazing way.
In Two Boys, the echoed themes involving love, trust and the unknown permeated through the story into the audience. Starting in media res, we are instantly introduced to the character of the Inspector, Anne, and her reluctant acceptance of a case involving minors and murder. Her lack of knowledge with computers and the Internet, although somewhat hard to believe considering this opera takes place during 2001, forces her to delve into the unknown as she discovers this wide and volatile atmosphere where anyone can pretend to be anyone, and talk to anyone he or she wishes. Through her contact with the unknown, we begin to see themes of love form between her and her sick mother, as well as a relationship forming between Jake and Brian. Trust also becomes an echoed idea in this opera, as Brian is constantly having his trust manipulated by the incredibly intelligent Jake in order to carry out the devilish deed at the end of the opera (and beginning) of the opera. All three of these themes are expertly weaved together in order to communicate a warning to everyone in the audience: the Internet can be dangerous if one is not careful with it.
The characters in Two Boys also gave the opera a valuable quality. Every main character had a rich backstory that added to the complexity of the situation. Anne’s character development was possibly the most interesting. As someone who has had no contact with the Internet until the beginning of the story, we are able to follow her journey into the dark, unforgiving unknown. While on this journey, we learn about why she didn’t use the Internet in the past. The two boys also had their own stories, which made them incredibly relatable. Jake, however, had the stronger character. Having been bullied in school, thirteen year-old Jake is also at that moment in his life where he is struggling with his sexuality. His high intelligence coupled with the two aforementioned problems let us feel what he feels as he follows his path to his demise.
The set was quite possibly the most impressive part of the production. The digitally generated images that were projected onto the buildings poetically gave a testament to the capabilities of technology. Additionally, they also helped urge the story along by providing a visual representation of what was happening online. The effect of having the chat boxes on the set immersed the audience. The visual representation of the Internet as a web of connections was also great at showing the audience how overwhelming the Internet could be to anyone, especially someone like Anne who has never interacted with it before. This reminded me of the Steve Dixon readings and the discussion of “liveliness” involving Phelan vs. Auslander and Benjamin vs. Barthes. Although they argued that media and technology is killing the live entertainment environment, I believe that the innovative set used in Two Boys added great depth to the production. Not only did it keep me interested at times, it was also complementary with the story as the story sought to convey the feelings of someone thrust into the concept of the Internet.
Having loved my first opera experience, I recommend this production to anyone that has never seen an opera before, as well as those who are seasoned veterans. Two Boys and its use of set, story and characters, is an incredible production that is sure to captivate its audience, both young and old(er) alike.
-Stanley (Blog A)
