carl uNaNder-schariN & michael Williams the Terrible Tale of The Elephant Man and Jack the Ripper, two Freaks of Nature Many have sought to create art out of Joseph Merrick’s remarkable life: David Lean’s film, Pomerance’s play and Petitgirard’s opera, to name just a few. What could I possibly add to the interpretations of the Elephant Man?

Mankind has always been fascinated Pandora’s Box when I discovered by disability for at some point in our Charles Van Onselen’s The Fox & lives, sooner or later, for a short or the Flies – The Criminal Empire a long period, we all will be disabled of the Murderer. Van in some way. Is this enough of a Onselen, a leading South African theme to base an opera on? historian, builds a convincing argu- I read everything I could on ment that Joseph Silver, a Jewish Victorian and the Elephant immigrant from Poland, could well Man but my research took an un- be the person infamously known as expected turn when I came across Jack the Ripper. the following: “During the time of I soon made some startling the ... locals discoveries. These two men, were sure that Joseph Merrick Joseph Merrick and Joseph Silver, was sneaking out of the hospital at were both in their early twenties, night, killing local ‘unfortunates’”. abandoned by their mothers, had The Elephant Man, suspected of absent fathers, were obsessed with being Jack the Ripper, based on the the idea of sex and women, lived in obvious assumption that the man Whitechapel at the same time, both who looks like a monster must be a desired, above all to be a gent- monster leman and were highly particular The literature on the Whitechapel about their outward appearance. murders was overwhelming and I But the similarity which fascinated was on the point of shutting that me the most was that both of these www.norrlandsoperan.se men suffered from a congenital disorder - one physical, the other mental - that would eventually be the cause of their death. This was truly an epiphany: an opera about two very different men, one, a monster within and the other, a monster without. This idea is hard- ly original - I refer to Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mister Hyde. Yet in every opera there is always that moment where reality is replaced by musical possibilities, imaginative and mysti- cal, and I was haunted with the idea of exploring their journey and bring- ing these two men face to face. I therefore invite you to walk through the streets of old Whitecha- pel and into the lives of two very different Joes. Two men who might give us insight into the brutality and depravity, the humility and gentle- ness we are all capable of.

Michael Williams, Librettist

THROAT III If Joseph Merrick could hardly talk, how then should he sing? The solu- tion was Throat III, an electronic advanced musical instrument which was equipped with electronic sensor and worn by the singer as a glove. The singer moved his hand to con- trol and develop the vocal quality of his sound throughout the opera. Photos from The Elephant Man, the Terrible Tale of the Elephant Man and Jack the Ripper, two Freaks of Nature at Carl Unander-Scharin, Composer NorrlandsOperan, Umeå, Sweden, by Malin Arnesson.

PRODUCTION CAST Music: Carl Unander-Scharin Joseph Merrick: Håkan Starkenberg Libretto: Michael Williams Joseph Silver: Karl Rombo Conductor: Mats Rondin Tom Barker and more: Mats Persson Stage Director: Keith Turnbull Ginger: Susanna Levonen Costume Design: Annsofi Nyberg Dr Treves: Peter Kajlinger Video Design: epí - Lene Juhl & Mark Viktov Dark Annie and more: Maria Sanner Stage Image: Peter Öhgren Policeman and more: Lars Martinsson Light Design: Kevin Wyn-Jones Long Liz/Stepmother: Albina Isufi Choreography: Jo Leslie Katie and more: Heddie Färdig Mask Design: Anna Andersson Polly/Princess Alexandra: Jenny Hertzman

NorrlandsOperan’s Sympony Orchestra

The Elephant Man was first performed at NorrlandsOperan, Umea, on 6 October 2012.

www.norrlandsoperan.se SOME OF THE PRESS REACTIONS Fascinating extremes Victorian horrors in STAGGERINGLY

”As a Hollywood action movie it all The Elephant Man BEAUTIFUL comes down to a male duel and the ”Hakan Starkenberg gives a very “Unander-Scharin’s music is traditio- magnificent choir finale is a truly vivid performance using his whole nal in structure in the form of arias, heartbreaking prayer for a more body - his face grimaces in frustra- duets and ensembles. If his music peaceful world.” tion as he tries to make himself is always singable, it is because he understood...” is a singer... the music is at times SvD.se staggeringly beautiful, especially ”The era is beautifully captured when it blossoms in the pure or- a great success and a throughout the opera in both refe- chestral sections.” rences to contemporary medical big breakthrough science and in the genre. Tidskriften Opera Unander-Scharin’s music is melodic ”It was a great opera experience, and aptly, a distillate of the moods well worth the long train journey and and events taking place in the Neo-romantic with a few days in the City of Birches, libretto.” Umeå.” a twist Aftonbladet.se Operalogg.com “Carl Unander-Scharin makes me believe in the future of contem- Tight and porary opera. He builds musical more than just SCARY tension and resolution with equal thriller-like parts of black humour – a sort of ”NorrlandsOperan’s commissioned neo-romantic with a twist. But above ’The Elephant Man’ stems from ”The members of the small ensem- all he has feeling for phrasing, a gift some kind of timelessness: the idea ble are all very talented actors, for any singer.” of ​​inner and outer beauty, goodness Mats Persson, for example, really and evil, Dr. Jekyll-duality in all of us makes the manager Tom Barker SR Kulturnytt and the minimal acceptance of the come to life. And also from a visual deviant.” point of view The Elephant Man is scenically impressive.” ”The South African librettist Michael Williams has intertwined two ma- Nummer.se cabre characters and stories to a full-length opera in two acts set in To view extracts from the NorrlandsOperan production of The Elephant Victorian .” Man please visit: www.youtube.com/watch?v=TP3fysaUTRI

”Composer Carl Unander-Scharin The score is available through: www.electronic-opera.com/elephantman has an impeccable ability to com- bine styles without becoming coarse and creates a contemporary response to the popular music hall tradition... his music also has a sad, emphatic grace with unusual instru- mentation and an almost Wagnerian crescendo in the final moments.”

Dagens Nyheter www.norrlandsoperan.se