The Road

Opera in Two Acts

MUSIC BY ROBERT PATERSON • LIBRETTO BY David Cote

Based on The Novel by Cormac McCarthy

Written: In-Development
Duration: ca. 120'
Based on the novel The Road by Cormac McCarthy; libretto by David Cote
for seven singers, chorus, and orchestra (3 Flutes (Fl. 3 doubling piccolo), 2 Oboes, English Horn, 2 Clarinets, Bass Clarinet, 2 Bassoons, Contrabassoon, 4 Horns, 3 Trumpets, 2 Trombones, Bass Trombone, Tuba, 3 Percussionists, Timpani, Harp, Keyboard (Piano/Synthesizer), Strings (ca. 8 Vln I, 8 Vln. II, 6 Vla., 4 Vcl. 3 Cb.)
Upcoming World Premiere: TBD
Publisher: Bill Holab Music

Why The Road?

We believe that Cormac McCarthy’s 2006 novel could make an astonishing opera. This epic story about a father and son’s journey to the coast, against the backdrop of an ashen, blasted America, is the sort of elemental struggle perfect for musical-theater treatment. The horror, hope and desperate love contained in the story can be captured in soaring music and spectacular tableaux. The story evokes urgent environmental themes with a resonant emotional bond at the center. This defining novel of the 21st century could become a groundbreaking grand opera.

The music

Opera is a music-driven medium, and the novel contains only what dialogue is necessary. An operatic version of The Road, likewise, would not be wordy. It would be sparse, laconic and to the point. The music, however, would convey the immense, terrifying landscapes and anguished interior lives of the characters. Robert Paterson’s score would alternate a churning, monochromatic, gritty sound world with episodes of gentleness and humor. Flashbacks to a time before the catastrophe would recall a more balanced, colorful, hopeful time. The vocal writing for the Father would be an interesting challenge: throughout the book, he’s coughing from a bronchial disease; the singer would have to balance the realism of that condition with his vocal lines. A talented boy soprano would play the son. The Mother will be an exquisite role for a world-class soprano. Various supporting actors and a chorus would fill out the world of victims and predators, all fighting to survive.

The libretto

Faithful to the novel’s plot, the libretto will be marked by terseness and compression. The almost ritualistic dialogues between Father and Son will form the spine of the libretto, as will their episodic voyage to the coast. There will be flashback scenes with the Mother and menacing recit exchanges with various marauders the Father and Son meet on their travels. Each principal will have powerful arias to express their emotional and existential states. An aria is woven through the piece, a song written by the Mother, taught to the Father and finally sung to the Son. It’s a song of hope and remembrance.

The physical production

We would seek to partner with an opera director with an international reputation for complex, visually stunning work, artists such as Ivo van Hove, Katie Mitchell, Thomas Ostermeier or Dmitri Tcherniakov. Video projection would be key to evoking the world of The Road. We see vistas of awesome devastation rendered by cinematographers or computer graphics: ash-blowing winds, bleached vistas, ruined cities. Through a fluid use of changing perspective and possibly moving platforms, the Father and Son traverse a burnt-out landscape pushing a wobbly shopping cart. Interiors of houses, basements, and the bomb shelter are rendered by simple moveable set pieces in combination with projections. The set should be able to “disappear” quickly—set pieces rolling soundlessly off, so the playing space can become as empty and stark as possible. This way the scenes of the opera vary between vast outdoor scenes and claustrophobic interiors. The emphasis in the production should be on the bodies of the characters, their voices and the primal, unforgettable tableaux they form with the lights and projection.

Principal Characters

Father (baritone): A man in his late 30s or early 40s, but given the hell that he’s been through, it’s hard to place his age. Bearded, haggard, coughing blood, his eyes burn with an intensity and purpose: save the boy.

Son (boy soprano, soprano, or countertenor)*: The child is about ten years old and while he sees the horror of the world around him, it all seems a bit like a dream that will end any moment now. He’s growing too fast, full of questions. The world has not choked his voice.

Mother (soprano): A clear, high, gut-twisting cry from the past. A woman, a ghost, a guilty memory, a goddess. She gave birth to the boy but took her own life. She appears and vanishes, like bright fire on the ash-gray landscape of this new world, or in dreams. Is she behind or before them?

Marauder #1 (tenor): One of a roving band of killers who runs into Father and Son.

Marauder #2 (mezzo-soprano): She is a sort of reverse image of the Mother. A hugely pregnant but cold-blooded killer, leading her pack of ravagers.

Thief (bass-baritone): He steals Father and Son’s cart when they get to the coast, and he pays the price.

Kindly Man (baritone): He offers to protect the boy after Father dies.

Chorus: Medium-size (8) SATB chorus to play chained basement victims; marauders; soloists to play husband and wife with bow & arrow; and voices from the past.