Magdalene

chamber opera

“A breath of pure creative power.”
– Opera Wire

“Ms. Birrittella gave an exposed, intelligent, and earnest performance in what was essentially a one-woman show.”
– The New York Times

“One of the more moving artistic experiences I’ve had in recent memory.”
– Theatre Times

Magdalene is a chamber opera: a wild meditation on transformation and desire scored by the collective voices of fourteen women. Set to Marie Howe’s Magdalene poems, the opera invites an audience into the interior world of Mary Magdalene — enlarging her to cross time and space, she appears as a woman alive now, who strives to heal the unyielding split between the sacred and the sexual. Encountering her life in flashes – wandering through a hotel, lighting birthday candles, making love in the ocean – Magdalene finds transcendence in the mundane to finally become the subject of her own story.

Created by Danielle Birrittella and Zoe Aja Moore
Music by Leila Adu, Ruby Kato Attwood, Danielle Birrittella, Christina Courtin, Gabrielle Herbst, Molly Joyce, Emma O'Halloran, Tanner Porter, Bergrún, Snæbjörnsdóttir, Annika Socolofsky, Gyda Valtýsdóttir, Sheena Wenger, with additional music by Ellen Reid
Poetry by Marie Howe
Directed by Zoe Aja Moore
Featuring Danielle Birrittella & Ariana Daub

Produced by BETH MORRISON PROJECTS & PROTOTYPE FESTIVAL
Performed at HERE ARTS NYC & DISNEY HALL REDCAT LA
Trailer and Touring Information