Marilyn Forever — Oxford Contemporary Opera

Marilyn Forever Poster.JPG — Marilyn Forever (May 2019).

In 2019, Oxford Contemporary Opera officially launched with their inaugural production of the UK premiere of *Marilyn Forever*, an opera about Marilyn Monroe by Gavin Bryars with libretto by Marilyn Bowering.
Directed by Zerlina Vulliamy with Musical Direction from Charlotte Corderoy, *Marilyn Forever* received its UK premiere at the Jacqueline du Pré Music Building in May 2019. Featuring a fantastic cast starring Margaret Lingas, the opera was a huge success, selling out two of its three shows.
“Marilyn Monroe is a fascinating, complex character whose multi-faceted aspects are explored in this opera. Artistically, we are aiming to give the audience some insight into the emotional and sometimes troubling private life she led. Given the current climate of increasing awareness given to women in Hollywood, we want to celebrate those like Marilyn Monroe as well as recognising the sensitive matter of abuse and sexism in the workplace” - Zerlina Vulliamy, Director.

SYNOPSIS

It is the night of August 5th, 1962. Marilyn's bedroom is entered by men who view her body and awaken her. Once they leave, Marilyn arises and quickly runs out. When she next appears she is on a rehearsal sound stage where waiting for her is the Rehearsal Director and her co- stars who have been reviewing her notorious history. Marilyn reveals her feelings about love and beauty in a lyrical announcement to the performers of who she 'really' is. These are feelings she clings to despite the actualities of her life, and they set up inevitable contradictions as she obliterates her original identity as Norma Jean and creates the figure of Marilyn Monroe. Success comes with a price and the price is a slippage of identity and an engagement with the darker side of the movie business.

Marilyn's search for love persists alongside an ambition born from the memory of her mother's madness and abandonment of her as a child. The Men reflect on her failed relationships and marriages, and as the contradictions she is living increase, Marilyn has a breakdown. Her subsequent relationship with Arthur Miller gives her a chance to reform her life. He nurtures her intellect, and the countryside in which they live reawakens her love of nature. Most importantly, she believes that having children will allow her to be 'normal' and find fulfilling love. When she suffers a series of miscarriages and Arthur also returns to his work, the relationship is doomed.

To counter her sense of not belonging, Marilyn devotes herself to creating a home. Although she is trapped by and subject to the desires and dismissals of the powerful she retains a hold on her touchstones, her ideals of love and artistry. But she is also a Pandora's Box: the secrets of influential men to which she is party must not be released. The forces that have long threatened Marilyn overwhelm and destroy her.

Only after death are Marilyn's mythic and touching childhood selves free to find each other. It is only in death that she is seen with clarity and receives the pity and love for which she has longed. Her death seals her gift to others; she becomes an icon-a screen on which unlimited love and desire and beauty are projected: but of course it is a triumph in which Marilyn cannot participate.

Adapted from www.gavinbryars.com