The novel, Swimming in the Dark, was one of NPR’s favorite reads in 2020. Now, the debut book from author Tomasz Jedrowski is being adapted into a two-act Opera, and brought to the Florida Keys.
Act One of the opera, sung in English, is being performed in front of an audience for the first time since it was completed. Performances run Friday and Saturday (March 21-22) evenings at the Studios of Key West, a space for multidisciplinary artists to develop new works. Collaborators on the project call this a milestone for the Opera, and the author, Jedrowski, is also set to make an appearance Friday at the Books and Books of Key West to discuss the novel.
The original story is a coming of age tale that follows a developing love between two university students, set in communist Poland in the 1980s. After the novel’s main characters, Ludwik and Janusz, meet at an agricultural service work camp, they bond over an unauthorized copy of James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room. Then, political intrigue drags their blossoming relationship into complicated territory.
“It's an epic gay love story that takes place in a time where epic gay love stories were not really allowed to be present and to be known,” said Stephen Kitsakos, a Key West local and the librettist who wrote the text for the Opera.
Kitsakos was first inspired when he read the book in 2020. He then sent it to longtime collaborator and composer Michael Hennessey. Five years later, the two are working with staff and students from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, which is home to one of the country’s top music conservatories.
“I composed it for a 12-piece orchestra,” said Hennessey. “I love chamber opera, and this is the kind of chamber opera that is almost itching to break out into grand opera.”
Though they read Swimming in the Dark years ago now, Kitsakos and Hennessey said it feels like an urgent story to tell now. The story’s themes touch upon book banning, the abrogation of LGBTQ and human rights, disinformation and censorship.
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“ There's 18 people in this production and we get to come together and we're making meaning,” said Hennessey. “ Human beings coming together and making meaning, and it seems more important than ever right now.”
Collaborators from the Jacobs School are putting on the performance during their spring break.
“ They are just in heaven coming out of cold Bloomington, Indiana,” Kitsakos said.
Most are current graduate students working to earn Master's degrees in Vocal Performance, according to Kitsakos.
“ One of the rationales for this being done jointly with the Jacobs School is the five principles in this opera are all in their mid twenties,” he said. “So they're creating roles that are totally age appropriate for them.”
Act Two of the new work is still in development as the libretto, or text for the musical work, is still being written. But, Kitsakos said this is a chance for Key West audiences to join the journey.
“ I think we've got a great story, it's an electrifying score, (and) it's contemporary opera,” Kitsakos said. “With relevance, not only currently here, but all over the world because it's about identity and politics, and that seems to be a recipe for strife, but also for joy.”
IF YOU GO:
WHAT: A staged concert of Swimming in the Dark Act One
WHEN: Friday, March 21 and Saturday, March 22 at 8 p.m.
WHERE: Helmerich Theater at the Studios of Key West, 533 Eaton St, Key West, 33040
WHAT: Author Talk with Tomasz Jedrowski on Swimming in the Dark
WHEN: Friday, March 21 at 5 p.m.
WHERE: Books & Books Key West Pear House Courtyard, 533 Eaton St, Key West, 33040
