We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Bea Goodwin. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Bea below.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Bea Goodwin, I am an opera librettist and stage director.

A lot of folks are immediately intimidated by the idea of an opera but simply put: I write stories and bring them to life. My mission as a writer is to fashion fresh, relevant stories while honoring opera’s formula of rich poetics and a visually visceral experience. And when I stage the greats of yore ( baroque/17th century pieces, the Mozarts, etc), I sit with the characters and view their messages through a contemporary lens. We can no longer perpetuate the problematic narratives of antiquated texts, however we can reinvent and reimagine how they can and should exist in our 21st century.
I sit on the Board of Directors of The Curiosity Cabinet, a female-led, interdisciplinary chamber ensemble that focuses on the intersections of music with the theatrical and visual arts. The orchestra’s artistic director, composer Whitney George, is my primary collaborator and our focus is to bolster underrepresented voices and fill the Contemporary American Operatic canon with roles for females to feel empowered and lost histories of marginalized communities to be represented.

Opera’s grandeur, its music and sets, transports you to a different place. When I dreamed of living a life as a theatrical practitioner, I wanted the biggest playground imaginable. That’s what opera is to me.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

My goal driving my creative journey is to cultivate a breadth of work involving women writing women’s stories. Centuries have gone by of the same formula penned by male writers: a woman is driven mad as the fates conspire against her, this culminates to her maiming herself, the chorus sings and all is lost. This formula intrinsically has a wonderful dramatic arc, akin to an epic poem, providing bountiful, beautiful music to be constructed. But how might these femmes feel? Lucretia, who at her death after her sexual assault was told that God would forgive her. Or the real life sex workers Kiku who inspired Madama Butterfly, Marie Duplessis who inspired Violetta in Traviata; why did they have to die for their sins?

It’s fascinating how progressive opera once was by highlighting sex workers (geishas, the demimonde, courtesans) as the centralized figures in these stories. Some of the most sought after, beloved, operas of all time revere these women while simultaneously making them objects of idolatry. But it does not negate the fact that men were writing these stories– how these women were driven to dark places by their circumstance.

It’s high time women took back these narratives– to educate, narrate, celebrate the intricacies of the female experience within the confines of the patriarchal parameters wherein she must exist. Unfortunately, this is timeless. As long as there are men with gavels implementing abortion bans, there must be art reflecting. It’s essential.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

As someone who writes lyrics to music, the most rewarding aspect is the ability to listen. Words can not adequately describe the feeling of hearing your piece sung through for the first time and furthermore, hearing various singers bring their own experiences and pathos to your text. It is a dream.

Of course, the more I have been able to elevate and explore neglected narratives in the operatic cannon, the more rewarding my artistic work has been. From the examination of the immigrant experience and the disillusionment of the American Dream to the commemoration of madams and muses, one thing’s for sure: there is an absolute necessity for providing empathy and insight into the human experience, in every shape and form.

Contact Info:

• Website: beagoodwin.com
• Instagram: @asongfrombea, @cabinetensemble

Image Credits
BRIAN LONG, LUCAS GODLEWSKI, KAITLIN BUCK