City Lyric Opera (CLO) presents Black Water by Jeremy Beck and Savior by Amy Beth Kirsten, a double bill of gripping chamber operas that interrogate female agency across time.
Jeremy Beck’s Black Water, based on Joyce Carol Oates’s haunting novella, gives voice to Kelly Kelleher in the final moments of her life. Trapped in a sinking car after a fateful encounter with a powerful senator, Kelly’s memories, desires and regrets swirl together in a gripping psychological portrait of vulnerability, idealism and betrayal.
In Savior, composed by Amy Beth Kirsten, we witness the final reckoning of Joan of Arc—a teenage girl condemned for her divine convictions and revolutionary courage. Sung in trio through Kirsten’s electrifying, visceral soundscape, Savior reframes Joan’s martyrdom as a feminist outcry that still echoes across centuries.
Their stories, though centuries apart, ask the same question: What happens when a women dares to speak, lead, or love in a world determined to silence her?
