After humanity: Innovative opera at the Peabody ponders an Earth without us
An inscription near the entrance of the Yale Peabody Museum’s first-floor galleries declares the overarching themes of the exhibits that follow: “Life changes the environment and the environment changes life. Extinctions change everything.”
The narrative that unfolds from there spans hundreds of millions of years — from the first organisms to inhabit the oceans, through the age of dinosaurs, to the rise of humans. It’s a story of how life has endured and evolved through mass extinctions that wiped out much of the planet’s biodiversity.
On Nov. 4, an event at the Peabody will ponder the long-term effects of an extinction that humans might be reluctant to contemplate: our own. In partnership with the Yale Schwarzman Center, the museum will host a performance of “mɔɹnɪŋ [Morning//Mourning],” an experimental opera that ponders the long-term effects of an extinction that humans might be reluctant to contemplate: our own. (“mɔɹnɪŋ” is the phonetic spelling for “morning” and “mourning.”) The event is free and open to the public.
The show, created by composer, singer, and musician Gelsey Bell, explores what might happen to the planet over eons after humans disappear. The performance marks the first time the Peabody will host a musical event in its new Central Gallery, an event-space adjacent to the Burke Hall of Dinosaurs built during the museum’s recent transformative renovation.
“Part of the pleasure of having a newly renovated museum with new facilities is seeing what we can do with them,” said Chris Norris, the Peabody’s director of public programs. “This collaboration with the Schwarzman Center is an opportunity to try something we haven’t done before, which is host a large-scale musical performance. We’ll be trying new things like this a lot at the Peabody over the next year or so.”
Performed by an ensemble of five vocalist/multi-instrumentalists (including Bell), the show guides the audience through the changes that happen on Earth following the demise of humanity. Forests grow back and new species evolve as the human-made world erodes away. The 90-minute performance, which has been described by The New York Times as “obviously ominous but ultimately sly and sweet, wistful and winsome and altogether lovable,” is a whimsical and playful exploration into the dire political and ethical contradictions that structure current human relations with nature.
“I’m especially proud of our associate artistic director, Jennifer Harrison Newman, for identifying this performance opportunity and in doing so, fortifying our mission, distinguishing our artistic intent, and forging critical partnerships across campus,” said Rachel Fine, the Schwarzman Center’s executive director. “Collectively, we’re expanding access to a singular experience that will not soon be forgotten.”
Bell, who starred in the critically acclaimed 2016 Broadway musical “Natasha, Pierre, & the Great Comet of 1812,” said she drew inspiration for the show from “The World Without Us,” a 2007 nonfiction book by Alan Weisman that imagined how the world would change after humans go extinct.
“I was inspired by how in awe of the power of the natural world I felt after reading that book,” she said. “I felt like my emotional reaction to the scientific information it presented was perfect for putting to music. While the scientific language around subjects like climate change and mass extinction tends to be very stoic, I’m approaching the material from a creative and playful space. I’m trying to find a different emotional angle.”
The early part of the show explores themes similar to those Weisman examined in his best-selling thought experiment: How and how soon would buildings erode? What would happen to animals, both wild and domesticated? How long would plastic and nuclear waste last?
“Then I travel to some stranger places,” Bell said. “It gets somewhat sci-fi as things go forward.”
For her part, Bell said she is excited to perform in a venue where the fossilized bones of long-extinct species are displayed. In fact, two of the museum’s prime icons of extinction — the skeletons of a mosasaur, a marine predator, and Archelon, the largest sea turtle known to ever exist — are suspended from the Central Gallery’s ceiling, positioned in a perpetual chase.
“The piece is very much about, shall we say, ‘natural future,’ and so the focus on large time scales in the Peabody’s galleries is very appropriate for it as is their focus on non-human animals, which is a big part of the show,” she said. “The show very much evokes thoughts about the natural world, so being surrounded by the history of that world will add a wonderful dimension to the performance.”
The show never explains the cause of humanity’s hypothetical collapse.
“I find that every audience member has their own relationship to that question,” Bell said. “I’m hoping the show will make people pay more attention to the natural world and the other animals with whom we share this planet. I hope it gives them a sense of the vast time scale of natural history and helps them understand that the planet’s larger story goes far beyond what happens during the average human lifespan.”
“mɔɹnɪŋ [Morning//Mourning],” starts at 7:30 p.m. in the Peabody’s Central Gallery. Please register online in advance. The Yale Peabody Museum is located at 170 Whitney Avenue in New Haven.
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