Anthony Haden Guest calls “The Plain of Jars” — a chamber opera by Keith Patchel about America’s secret war in Laos — “the lineal descendant of Stravinsky’s ‘Nightingale’ and Alban Berg’s ‘Lulu’ and ‘Wozzeck.'”
I haven’t seen it yet, but my staff of thousands tells me it “exposes the wounds caused by America’s use of Laos as a testing ground for new military weapons during the Vietnam War era, including the birth of drone technology.” The opera opens next week in New York University’s Impact Festival, starring mezzo-sopranos Xi Yang in the role of Gaia, and Clara Francesca as the Manipulative CIA Agent. Performances run July 27, 28, and 29.
A press release states, “It recalls the story of limitless American ambition to create a war for the sake of war,” and adds:
From 1964 to 1969 U.S. military forces flew 580,944 bombing missions over the Laotian Plain of Jars.* More than two million tons of munitions were dropped, the equivalent of a B-52 load of bombs dropping every eight minutes for nine years. To this day land mines planted in Laos are still present as threats to Laotian lives.
From left: Xi Yang, Clara Francesca, Sayaka Aiba, in ‘The Plain of Jars’ [Photos: Clayton Patterson]
The opera, spurred by Patchel’s reading of Fred Branfman’s Voices from The Plain of Jars in June 2016, was first workshopped and staged at West 52nd‘s Medicine Show Theatre Ensemble. Created from scratch over 12 days, it analyses America’s political involvement during the Vietnam Nixon Paris Peace talk era. Male roles include Robert E. Turner as John F. Kennedy, Timothy McCown Reynolds as Richard Nixon, Jon L. Peacock as Lyndon Baines Johnson, and John Hayden as Henry Kissinger.
Anthony Haden Guest writes that “Patchel’s composition is a fluid collage of synthesisers, keyboards and computer samples, many taken from repertoires of ethnic and tribal music, and the whole seems utterly appropriate, becom[ing] an organic element within the rapturous math of deep space.”
According to the producers:
In the complex U.S. political climate of 2017, “The Plain of Jars” invites you to question the choices of “The Great American Free World.” How do we reconcile the damage caused to those caught in the undertow of “American interests?” How do we reckon with such a conscious act of terror on another people? And why do we seem to insist on ignoring the lessons from our past?
*The Plain of Jars is a plateau in the eastern part of Laos (a neutral country during the Vietnam War). At first America began bombing that region to stop the North Vietnamese from infiltrating South Vietnam by way of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, which passed near the Plain of Jars. But the American bombing quickly escalated into a much more complex and bloody scenario under the guise of stopping the Pathet Lao, a Communist insurgency in Laos.
I love this opera! Definitely a must see at NYU’s Impact Festival next week
I am inspired and honored that Jan included a piece on the Plain OF Jars on his blog. A blog filled with such rich cultural diversity. His connections to the Beats, No!art, the 60’s and an assortment of more underground creative streams. He keeps this history alive, connected to today, and it is an excellent archive to be a part of.
The Plain of Jars brings back into focus the death, the destruction, the horrors that America inflicted on Laos, the fact that we were not at war with Laos just using the country as a training ground to test the next generation of military weapons and try out new ways to kill masses of people including civilians, and the fact that the country is still, to this day, polluted with hundreds of unexploded land mines which are continuing to kill and maiming people.
Remembering the death and destruction is one side of the opera; the other side is more proactive. Keith Patchel, is now working with an international group, whose goal is to help find ways clear the landmines and to supply the victims of the landmines with medical devices, like artificial limbs.
Question: – In picking the right performer to play a role –
Does it matter where the person is born and brought up, education, culture, ethnic background? Cannot imagine a short, heavy, barely English speaking bald actor taking on the role of John Wayne. But, in PoJ, what about the fact that the star, the lead singer. Xi Yang, was born, educated, brought up in Communist China? She is not fluent in English, but she is has an exceptional voice, and can sing her part. She said she almost cried when she first sang some of her lines. The cast is made up of Communist Chinese, Japanese, Australians, and Americans. The musical instruments range from ancient Chinese to contemporary digital computer sounds.
Another reason I value Jan’s blog is he helps fill in the gaps. Critics and scene makers tend to land on and follow a small group of individuals that become the trendsetters, the representatives of a scene or period. Over the years I have come to learn that often the noisy ones up front, the ones who get the most attention, are not always the most powerful creative force behind a movement or scene. For example: Rupaul was not the best or most creative of the Pyramid Club Drag Queens. Long story… one notable, highly creative, much overlooked, to this day misunderstood, Pyramid Drag Queen – is SUNPK aka Peter Kwaloff – was a far more creative and inventive a performer.
Again for me, I am thankful Jan is one of the rare culture writes who covers art made outside the lines of the mainstream. Plain Of Jars, NO!art and Boris Lurie. NO!art to this day, has not yet been able to settled into it’s position of historical importance. Historians want to end NO!art’s contribution in the 60’s, and to overlook all that happened after the beginning period. Jan’s coverage proves NO!art continues. Same as Punk historians have laid out in stone who were the players, with hardly a mention of Keith.
Keith was a part of Punk; he made his contribution, which included playing on the original Richard Lloyd break through album Field of Fire. Created the music for the HBO Emmy nominated documentary “Finishing Heaven “a free-form, avant-garde portrait of bohemian life in the Big Apple” (http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/finishing-heaven/synopsis.html). Different from many, and this is a reflection of his punk attitude, his music journey did not end in the scene where he started. Who else in Punk has composed an opera? Also, on a contemporary note, is his Mars Band collaboration with Carter Emmart, director of Astrovisualization at the Hayden Planetarium. At the planetarium Carter has been able to take the massive amount of complicated digital information NASA has collected on: the trip to, the area around, and the surface of the planet Mars. Cater and his team of scientists took this data and turned into a wonderful visual trip starting from Earth, past the moon, across the galaxy, ending at destination the planet Mars. Captain Carter at the helm, using his computer stick and voice guides us on this space odyssey which includes a trip across the barren surface. Keith, the Mars Band, composed the musical score that accompanies this Mars trip. Keith recently made the connection between NYU music department and the planetarium.
I hope Jan will attend both the Plain of Jars, as well as, going to one of the Keith Patchel, Mars Band, and Cater Emmart collaboration experiences at the Hayden Planetarium. The seats are comfortable, but, If one is inclined you can lay on your back, look up, especially considering the 180 degree view and the inside the globe curved surface illumination, the accompanying music, can be a fulfilling peaceful time. … Jan is deep into music. Jan email me if you are going to any of the performances.
Thank you for this excellent comment.
Super excited to share this with the community of NYU, NYC and the world at large! Thank you for the write-up Jan.
Let’s make a great Opera