Wake: A Folk Opera

book and lyrics by Jessica Wright Buha

music by Jenn Romero

Left to right: Jenn Romero and Emmy Bean at Berger Park, Chicago

About Wake: A Folk Opera

Wake: A Folk Opera was the result of an intensive collaboration between playwright Jessica Wright Buha, musician Jenn Romero, and myself in which we challenged ourselves to imagine an accessible, surprising, and intimate performance that brought the art closer to home. What resulted was a chamber opera for two actor-singers and two musicians that was designed to be performed in a home. Early versions of Wake were developed through the Plagiarists’ Salon and the University of Chicago’s Summer, Inc., and then the show moved into a historic house at Chicago’s Berger Park for a sit-down run. We then took the show on the road, staging it in homes that ranged from a YWCA Women’s Shelter in White Plains, New York to a tiny Manhattan apartment. In each location, our hosts shared not only their space, but their communities, and performances were often followed by barbecues, singalongs, and new connections.

The story of Wake takes place over one night in the early 1990’s, when a man named Joel has to break into his mother’s house. When he arrives, he finds Risa, a woman with autism who has been squatting in the house for weeks. Joel discovers that his mother has died and the funeral has already happened. Risa and Joel spend the rest of the night navigating wounds old and fresh, confronting grief, and sharing a space that both and neither can call home.

Listen to the Original Cast Recording

ORIGINAL CAST (2012)