Erik Satie's SOCRATE

with excerpts from THE TEN-BLOCK WALK: an Old-Person's Odyssey

by Erin Huelskamp and Christie Lee Gibson

 

Produced in association with the Fort Point Theatre Channel

 

June 21- 23, 2013

Fort Point Theatre Channel, 10 Channel Center St., Boston

 

Erik Satie's half-hour chamber opera SOCRATE was written to be performed by the Princesse de Polignac and her lovers. In it, Satie plays with text from Plato about Socrates and his followers. It asks the question, how can they emulate his calmness that they so admire when he as about to die? The simplicity and speech-like quality of the music hint at the stoicism they try to emulate while belying the difficulty of achieving it.

 

THE TEN-BLOCK WALK: AN OLD PERSON'S ODYSSEY is a chamber opera that is being written by composer Erin Huelskamp and librettist Christie Lee Gibson. It follows Mrs. Otis as she journeys from her home to the local senior center. This is a piece about being present, about taking time and taking in your surroundings and responding to them. It is about persistence in the face of pain and obstacles and handicap, and about understanding that when you achieve your goals, often after great physical and mental exertion, it doesn't always look or feel like you think it's going to.