The Tender Land
with music by Aaron Copland and lyrics by Horace Everett
Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Waller Hall MainStage
December 4-7, 2014
with music by Aaron Copland and lyrics by Horace Everett
Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Waller Hall MainStage
December 4-7, 2014
Notes from the Director :
Inspired by the pictures of a mother and daughter in Walker Evans’ Depression-era photographs published in James Agee;s book Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, The Tender Land is a coming-of-age tale that revolves around the character of Laurie Moss, a soon-to-be a high school graduate. The first of her family to make it through high school, Laurie’s family is very proud of her, yet has certain expectations about how she should lead her life. Laurie, however, dreams of what the world is like beyond her quiet farming community. After Laurie meets a pair of drifters on the eve of her graduation who have come to her grandfather’s farm in search of work (Martin and Top), her dreams of seeing the outside world become a real possibility after she discovers she has feelings for Martin. Agreeing to marry him and run away the next day, she finds she is jilted in the morning, but nevertheless decides to leave on her own.
As a director of a cast of primarily college-aged students, The Tender Land is a poignant story that resonates with many of the things my students are going through as twenty-somethings. They have approached the time where they need to make decisions about their own lives, and it can be hard to decide on the best path to follow. As a young adult, it is a hard thing, for instance, to break away from the people that love you most. It is a hard thing to think about leaving home and leaving the world you have always known to create something totally new. But just as Laurie says to her mother at the end of the opera, “I’m ready for leaving like this harvest is ready to be gathered in,” it is something we all must do when the time comes.
Inspired by the pictures of a mother and daughter in Walker Evans’ Depression-era photographs published in James Agee;s book Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, The Tender Land is a coming-of-age tale that revolves around the character of Laurie Moss, a soon-to-be a high school graduate. The first of her family to make it through high school, Laurie’s family is very proud of her, yet has certain expectations about how she should lead her life. Laurie, however, dreams of what the world is like beyond her quiet farming community. After Laurie meets a pair of drifters on the eve of her graduation who have come to her grandfather’s farm in search of work (Martin and Top), her dreams of seeing the outside world become a real possibility after she discovers she has feelings for Martin. Agreeing to marry him and run away the next day, she finds she is jilted in the morning, but nevertheless decides to leave on her own.
As a director of a cast of primarily college-aged students, The Tender Land is a poignant story that resonates with many of the things my students are going through as twenty-somethings. They have approached the time where they need to make decisions about their own lives, and it can be hard to decide on the best path to follow. As a young adult, it is a hard thing, for instance, to break away from the people that love you most. It is a hard thing to think about leaving home and leaving the world you have always known to create something totally new. But just as Laurie says to her mother at the end of the opera, “I’m ready for leaving like this harvest is ready to be gathered in,” it is something we all must do when the time comes.
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