- Commissioned by Danish theater company, Hotel Pro Forma, The Knife recently formed a creative relationship with Planningtorock and Mt. Sims in writing a stunning score to the opera Tomorrow, In a Year. The story was, nominally, a retelling of the biography of Charles Darwin. I used the word "retelling" tentatively, however, because it implies some sort of coherent story, which was clearly disavowed from the outset.
The Knife seemed to be the marketing focus for Melbourne's International Arts Festival and, as such, it was a crowd of different persuasions that arrived to watch the opening night. Graying opera and theatre buffs mingled with younger patrons. From the moment that mezzo-soprano Kristina Wahlin swept onstage in a flowing blood-red gown, the intense lighting, the intriguing set design and the deep, rumbling electronica of The Knife dominated the senses. Nothing quite seemed to fit together in harmony, but each was arresting in its own way. The disparate elements didn't undermine the abstract narrative, though. Instead, they were reflective of Nature as both a connected and isolated organism. Take the oft used example that was scrawled across the stage's backdrop with lasers: "A butterfly flaps its wings..." It was a perfect demonstration of the rupture and intimacy within the natural world.
Olof Dreijer told RA upon the opera's premiere in London that he "wanted the piece to be slow so that it became almost disturbingly slow." It was an effort to mimic evolution, and his objective was achieved both in the composition of the opera as well as the theatre and choreography performed by Hotel Pro Forma. The opening songs dedicated to Darwin's exploration and discoveries are painstaking and deliberate. Through the careful and patient choreography, something monumental seemed to be on the brink of discovery.
And, as Tomorrow, In a Year continued, the music seemed to reward the patience demanded from the broader theatre production. Towards the end, songs like "Colouring of Pigeons" and "Seeds," are gratifying, striking a familiar chord with The Knife's previous studio production via singers Laerke Winther and Jonathan Johansson. Wahlin, meanwhile, provided a constantly haunting complement, albeit in a distinctly different vocal range.
No doubt at the production's conclusion much of the audience was left with unanswered questions. It was a testament to the reluctance to build a comprehensible and flowing narrative. To that end, Janine Rostron of Planningtorock thought it more interesting in the aforementioned interview to "value a question rather an answer." When considering a production as experimental as Tomorrow, In a Year, one needs to drop traditional standards and benchmarks and look purposefully at what is being crafted, rather than what it lacks. As an explicit attempt to create a counterpoint to audience expectations and tradition, it succeeded brilliantly.