Hamer, a black plantation worker with a sixth-grade education, paid dearly for her activism, with loss of job and habitat, confrontations with Jim Crow vigilantes, ongoing intimidation, and even a severe beating by oppressive police that left her with permanent injuries. Because of the unbending color line, her daughters were denied entry into local schools, and she was denied access to the nearby hospital. But she was a supremely courageous figure that continued her mission despite all adversity.  

The faithful chronological wanderings through 23 scenes of “Dark River” sap much of the potential drama of an epic movement. And just as in other recent operas like Glass’ “Appomattox” and Adams’ “Dr. Atomic,” the extensive quotations from speeches,  interviews and documents are neither poetic, metric nor singable, especially when you get to unwieldy phrases like “We’ve come to expose corruption in politics!” Operas of earlier eras have demonstrated that ideally texts should be adapted to what the singing voice can do best.

Still, the honesty and integrity of the story is retained, perhaps too faithfully for its own good.

Composer Mary D. Watkins has created a folk opera, with the inherently limited  theatrical accents as could be provided by a mere six-member orchestra under Deirdre McClure, a regular OOT conductor. She created an appealing heroine in Hamer as played by the conservatory-trained soprano Raiña Simons, who certainly should have been given a touching finale aria to pour out her heart and soul. She was evocative in a long, demanding role, even in the third performance (Nov. 15) given over just four days.

The finest touches were Watkins’ beautifully harmonized choruses, recalling hymns and marches, culminating in the stirring battle cry “Freedom now!” Here the cast was clearly in its element.

Overall,  the element of theater was badly lacking throughout, because of insufficient training as well as minimal stage direction, thereby turning a highly dramatic piece of history into a laggard sequence of vignettes.   

Among the historical figures depicted are Emmett Till, dancing and cavorting with infectious energy until becoming one of the movement’s first victims; President Lyndon Johnson, launching crucial phone calls while in his underwear, the funniest scene in the whole work; the FBI’s autocratic J. Edgar Hoover; Senator Hubert Humphrey; and black leaders of the time.

The OOT’s theater is a small bare-bones brick hall that might once have been a warehouse, with a near-capacity audience of 100 on that day. Under Director Darryl V. Jones, stages on four levels were built out, with the audience seated on two sides of a thrust runway. Supertitle projections of the libretto were helpfully provided. The show was produced with cooperation of the theater-dance dept. of Hayward State.

            Mary D. Watkins’ world premiere of “Dark River,” through Nov.22. Oakland Opera Theater. 630 3^rd St., Oakland. For info: (510) 763-1146, or go online.

        ©D. Rane Danubian 2009
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        D. Rane Danubian has been covering the dance and modern-music scene in the San Francisco Bay Area with relish -- and a certain amount of salsa -- for years.
    These critiques appearing weekly (or sometimes semi-weekly, but never weakly) will focus on dance and new musical creativity in performance, with forays into books (by authors of the region), theater and recordings by local artists as well.
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