Overview:

“Dark Sisters,” a production from the Eugene Opera about women struggling within a fundamentalist Mormon sect, is a modern opera and an example of the organization’s taste for what it calls “CNN” operas.

Hannah Penn wears a long, powder blue dress, and strikes a mournful tone while reflecting on the loss of her children and her life in a fundamentalist Mormon sect. 

When she speaks, it is not in sobs, but in a room-filling aria. 

Penn is an opera singer playing Ruth, one of the women at the center of “Dark Sisters,” which the Eugene Opera is bringing to the Richard E. Wildish Community Theater in Springfield this week.

The opera, composed by Nico Muhly with a libretto by Stephen Karam, which premiered in 2011, focuses on one woman, Eliza, wanting to escape life in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), as well as the women who choose to not follow Eliza.

Instead of focusing on the men in the FLDS, “Dark Sisters” is tightly centered on the lives of the women. They get names and interiority, while their husband is called only “the Prophet.”

Penn said “Dark Sisters”, and its examination of the women’s lives, taps into something that can be more confrontational than just a story about someone rising above adversity.

A woman with red hair tied in a high ponytail and bangs is seen in profile, looking down at an electronic tablet she is holding. She is wearing a light blue or gray long-sleeved dress with a collar. Her nails are painted red. In the background, a person wearing glasses and a light-colored top is visible at a piano.
Penn reviews the score for “Dark Sisters” on an electronic tablet between moments in rehearsal at the Richard E. Wildish Community Theater. Pianist Nathalie Fortin sits at a piano behind her.

“I do want to see, ‘Look at this inspirational story of this woman who encountered this difficulty, and then she found the strength and the courage and she rescued herself,’” she said. “The story of Eliza is kind of that. I think what we don’t want to face, but what is actually really true, is that when people are in that situation, they need help.” 

The FLDS, a radical offshoot of Mormonism, split in the early 20th century to continue practicing polygamy after the mainstream church officially renounced polygamy in 1890. It has been the subject of recent streaming series and true-crime documentaries like “Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey,” making stories of abuse within its polygamous fringe familiar to many audiences. 

Conductor Andrew Bisantz said the show, which references when child protective services removed hundreds of FLDS children from their homes in 2008 before a judge ordered their return months later, is an example of the Eugene Opera’s taste in what he called “CNN operas,” modern operas with news-driven stories. 

Bisantz pointed to modern operas as a way to reach out to audiences beyond the Puccini and Verdi lovers that are the Eugene Opera’s base. 

“It’s a good opportunity to have us show that we can tell diverse stories and that we can live in different universes,” he said. “It’s not about modern versus classical. It’s not about core versus obscure repertoire. It’s like, is the storytelling urgent and meaningful to our community?”

The real-life issues behind the show were the focus at a May 18 panel discussion, “Shedding Light on Dark Sisters,” at the Emmaus Lutheran Church’s Fellowship Hall in Eugene.

Several dresses in varying shades of blue, gray, and black are draped over the backs of brown theater seats with wooden armrests. The seats extend in rows into the background of an empty theater. The walls in the background are an orange-brown color with a railing.
A line of dresses, all worn by characters in the opera “Dark Sisters,” draped across seats at the Richard E. Wildish Community Theater. Credit: Annie Aguiar / Lookout Eugene-Springfield

Experts, including faculty from the University of Oregon and representatives from local support services for women and children, discussed child marriage, the legal frameworks behind the removal of children from FLDS homes, and the prevalence of domestic abuse toward women and children.

“The problem that should disturb us, and maybe also is disturbing us underneath that, has nothing to do with polygamous marriage or with polyamory in Eugene or anything of that nature,” said Bonnie Mann, a UO professor of philosophy. “It has instead to do with extremely rigid, powerful structures of domination and subordination that impact women and in this case, children.”

Nathan Troup, the show’s director, said at the panel that his job is to try to understand the opera’s characters, not to justify or enable, but to pose questions that linger long after the show closes.

Three people are gathered around a grand piano on a stage. On the left, a bald man in a dark green jacket and dark shirt holds some papers. In the center, a woman with reddish-brown hair in a light blue dress gestures with one hand while resting the other on the piano. On the right, an older man with a white beard and glasses holds a white cup. The piano has sheet music open on its stand and a lamp illuminating it. In the background, a pianist seated at the piano observes the conversation.
Director Nathan Troup, conductor Andrew Bisantz and opera singer Hannah Penn discuss the character Ruth and an emotionally straining scene during rehearsal. Credit: Annie Aguiar / Lookout Eugene-Springfield

“A really big part of what goes into seeing social justice issues in the arts is to know that it’s a long game,” he said. “It’s work that is done not in the immediate.”

For Penn, who also played Ruth in a 2023 Portland production and spent rehearsal time at the Wildish digging into Ruth’s thought process and mannerisms in a particularly tragic scene, embodying a character based on real women in abusive situations is a complex task.

“The first time I played this character, I was just worried that she was going to be pathetic,” she said. “I didn’t want her to be pathetic, from a personal place. This time around, I’m kind of thinking more that it’s OK for her to be a cautionary tale.”

How to watch ‘Dark Sisters’

Eugene Opera will perform “Dark Sisters” twice this week at 7:30 p.m. May 30 and 31 at Springfield’s Wildish Theater, 630 Main St. 

A pre-show talk with Bisantz will begin at 6:45 p.m. A talkback session with Bisantz, Troup and members of the cast will immediately follow the performance. Tickets range from $30 to $50. Student tickets cost $15.

Annie Aguiar is the Arts and Culture Correspondent. She has reported arts news and features for national and local newsrooms, including at the Seattle Times, the Washington Post and most recently as a reporting fellow for the New York Times’ Culture desk covering arts and entertainment.