Magdalene

Magdalene is a chamber opera in thirteen movements: a wild meditation on transformation and desire scored by the collective voice of thirteen women. Set to Marie Howe’s Magdalene poems, the opera invites an audience into the interior world of Magdalene, a woman alive now who strives to heal the unyielding split between the sacred and the sexual. Encountering her life in flashes - wandering through a hotel, lighting birthday candles, taking pills, making love in the ocean - Magdalene finds transcendence in the mundane to finally become the subject of her own story.

Created by Danielle Birrittella and Zoe Aja Moore
Music by Sheena Birrittella, Leila Adu, Ruby Kato Attwood, Danielle Birrittella, Christina Courtin, Gabrielle Herbst, Molly Joyce, Emma O'Halloran, Tanner Porter, Bergrún, Snæbjörnsdóttir, Annika Socolofsky, Gyda Valtýsdóttir, with additional music by Ellen Reid
Poetry by Marie Howe
Directed by Zoe Aja Moore
Featuring Danielle Birrittella & Ariana Daub
Music direction by Mila Henry & Marc Lowenstein
Video Design by Emilie Sabath & Keith Skretch
Scenic Design by Hana S. Kim
Lighting Design by Christopher Kuhl