In the Penal Colony
Contents:
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Attending the opera: what to expect
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In the Penal Colony summary and list of characters
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Major themes in the opera
- Statistics on the United States criminal justice system
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Discussion Questions
"This piece weaves together two different elements: the glorious Philip Glass opera – which itself is based on the Franz Kafka short story – and interviews with members of Rising Scholars, a group on the CSULB campus of students who were formerly incarcerated. The connection was a simple one; the US has the highest prison population in the world.
To quote Kafka scholar Blake Plante: “Kafka warns against the worship of the machine, because ‘no machine, no matter how intricate or refined, can provide the meaning of justice.’ The final message [of the piece] is the most important: “Do something! Stop the machine! This is murder!” This piece asks questions about these urgent issues in our society."
-Director Jeff Janisheski
Playwright Juliette Carrillo interviewed some of the Rising Scholars at California State University Long Beach.
They shared their experiences with the criminal justice system and memories of incarceration.
The words that you hear the actors speak come from true stories shared for our production.
How this show is different
Unlike the other three productions this semester, In the Penal Colony is an opera. An opera is a piece of theatre set to music and is entirely sung-through by the performers. Going to see an opera is a little different than going to see a play, and we'll go through what to expect below.
An excerpt from the Huffington Post article:
Here’s Your Definitive Guide To Going To The Opera
by Alexandra Svokos
Curtains Open
After the lights dim, if the audience starts mysteriously applauding, it’s because the conductor is walking out to his or her stand. You should always applaud for the conductor: they’re the one running the show, after all.
The right times to applaud can get confusing, especially depending on what you’re seeing. The easiest approach is to wait for someone else to start clapping, and then join along. A brief silence after singing doesn’t always mean it’s applause time.
Yes, most operas are sung in languages that are not English, and even English is hard to understand in operatic form. No, you do not have to know Italian/German/French/etc. to understand what’s going on. All opera performances will have some form of subtitles for every line. Sometimes it’s a projection to the sides or above the stage, and in other places it’s a screen on the seat in front of you. If it is a screen, make sure you hit the appropriate button for your subtitles to show up.
Oh, The Drama
Opera can inspire a lot of emotions. As Kasper Holten, director of opera at the Royal Opera House in London, said, “In one evening, you go through in two and one-half hours what the rest of us spend our whole emotional lives living through.” What you see on stage may not look like real life, but it’ll feel like it.
Our best recommendation is that if you feel yourself getting swept away, flow with it. Operas can be hysterically funny (even by modern standards), devastating, devastatingly gorgeous (musically or visually), sexy, thrilling, tense, poignant and — it happens — boring. If you don’t enjoy one opera, that doesn’t mean you should completely write all opera off. That would be like saying you didn’t like one TV show, so now you’re never going to watch TV again.
But if you do get caught up in it all, go on ahead. Cry, laugh, gasp and shout — we can assure you that you won’t be the only one doing so.
Want to read the full article? Click here
What else might be different?
Your #OOTD might be different!
The audience for our production of In the Penal Colony will include regular opera patrons, and everyone will have all different kinds of outfits! As the patrons at Houston Grand Opera will show you, wear whatever makes you feel comfortable!
Where you sit might be different!
We're shaking up the seating chart for In the Penal Colony. Unlike general admission (open seating), everyone coming to the show has assigned seating. Double check your ticket when you arrive and make sure you're in the right seat!
Check out this PDF for some opera vocabulary that might help you out!
ALL ABOUT IN THE PENAL COLONY
A penal colony or exile colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory.
What is a "penal colony"?
Plot Summary
A high-ranking visitor arrives in the penal colony. He was invited there to witness the public execution of a prisoner using a strange machine invented by the former commandant of the colony. The machine slowly carves a description of the condemned man's crimes into his flesh and after hours of excruciating torture kills him. The device is operated by the officer in charge of the prison who is utterly devoted to the machine and to the memory of the deceased commandant who invented it. He is disturbed by the machine's state of disrepair and the growing criticism of its use, including criticism from the island's current commandant. He hopes that the visitor will be impressed by the machine and will speak in favor of its "redemptive powers" to the commandant. The visitor is appalled by the machine but sings "It's always risky interfering in other peoples' business [...] I oppose this procedure, but I will not intervene." When the officer realizes that the visitor will not actively support him, he frees the condemned prisoner from the machine and climbs onto it himself, seeking the redemption of a slow and painful death. The machine, however, goes haywire and instead of killing him slowly, kills him almost instantly by piercing his skull. It then self-destructs. The visitor boards a boat and leaves the island.
From Wikipedia
Characters
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The Officer
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The Visitor
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The Guard
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The Prisoners
Major Themes and Discussion
In the Penal Colony examines the themes of justice and judgment, and this production at CSULB uses the criminal justice system in the United States as a focal point. The following information are tools to help you form some ideas of your own about how the story interacts with the criminal justice system and what these themes have to do with society today.
Statistics on the US Criminal Justice System
Source: https://www.sbs.com.au/guide/article/2017/12/06/10-staggering-statistics-about-us-prison-system
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There are currently 2.3 million Americans currently in prison
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The US houses approximately one quarter of the world's prison population, even though the US only has roughly 5% of the world's population
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While Black Americans make up approximately 13% of the US population, they currently account for 40% of the US prison population
Want to see the full report? Follow this link to learn more about the impact of incarceration in the united states
source: https://everysecond.fwd.us
Discussion Questions
In what ways was seeing an opera different than the other plays this semester? In what ways were they similar?
What were some of the challenges you experienced while seeing In the Penal Colony?
How does In the Penal Colony interact with the criminal justice system? What is the piece trying to say?
