Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Grendel: Modern Monster Opera
()
We caught the June 8 performance of Grendel at the Los Angeles Opera, which, due to some previous technical setbacks, turned out to be the world premiere. The opera tells the story of Beowulf, a human epic of a battle against a monster, from the point of view of the monster.
The production uses puppets with a variety of influences in addition to the human actor/singers -- this production is from many of the same people who did the stage musical of The Lion King. The design of the puppets clearly included influences from all over the world, and balanced realism and abstraction according to the needs of the story. It also played with scale. Grendel is bigger than the humans, so in a scene in which he attacks a mead-hall, you see exterior and interior scenes from the hall on a platform and on the floor of the stage. This was really well-done. There's also an excellent exchange with a dragon that serves as the story's centerpiece.
The music was neither bombastic nor shrill. It didn't have many memorable melodies on its own, but it melded well with the lyrics and the visual images on the stage. The show opens with the Grendel singing in contemporary American English, then incorporates some of the Old English language of the Beowulf epic for some of the humans' songs, then eases back into contemporary English as the people develop their civilization. This ties to the roots of the idea of telling the story from the monster's point of view in John Gardner's 1971 novel Grendel, and also to this opera's creators' view that the ancient monster Grendel is the character in the story who best represents the contemporary point of view. When Beowulf finally appears near the end, he's played by a dancer rather than a singer, and the singing of his part is done by a whole chorus, again suggesting a divide between the wild, solitary state represented by the monster and the human unity of civilization. Beowulf was good, but through most of the performance, the choreography consisted of a lot of rolling around on the floor in gray unitards, which isn't awful, but you've definitely seen it before.
Support for LAist comes from
Before the show, we enjoyed some twilight picnic snacks, including little pink cans of champagne. Many thanks to David for the show and the champagne. There were a variety of people in the audience, including a great number in their late teens or early 20s, which is about the right age for studying Beowulf in school, and also a generation that may find the styles of puppetry and music somewhat familiar from similarly-influenced pop shows such as some of Jim Henson's fantasy movies or MTV.
Photo from the Los Angeles Opera.
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity. -
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
Monarch butterflies are on a path to extinction, but there is a way to support them — and maybe see them in your own yard — by planting milkweed.
-
With California voters facing a decision on redistricting this November, Surf City is poised to join the brewing battle over Congressional voting districts.
-
The drug dealer, the last of five defendants to plead guilty to federal charges linked to the 'Friends' actor’s death, will face a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.
-
The weather’s been a little different lately, with humidity, isolated rain and wind gusts throughout much of Southern California. What’s causing the late-summer bout of gray?
Best of LAist