Regardless of how broad the subject matter – or prolific the storytelling – every great playwright has a common thread within their work that connects them with the audience and sets them apart from the ordinary.
Tennessee Williams leaned on forlorn and tragically poetic characters who reflect the dysfunction of Southern sensibility. Arthur Miller indicted the nation’s moral compass and the hollowness of the notion of the American Dream. August Wilson showcased the extraordinary within everyday Blackness. He revealed what the poetry of our language – and the legacy of our relentlessness – can teach the world.
And then there is Lynn Nottage. She uses her characters and themes to demand agency for the unseen and the unsung. The wallflowers, and those who have fallen (or have been shoved) through the cracks of society, are given a safe space within her words.
Nottage and her daughter Ruby Aiyo Gerber – a poet, nonfiction writer, and librettist in her own right – will deliver two talks in St. Louis on Sunday, February 23rd and Monday, February 24th.
“Bridging the Arts: A conversation with Lynn Nottage and Ruby Aiyo Gerber,” presented by Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, will take place at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday at the Loretto-Hilton Center for the Performing Arts. Nottage and Gerber will be in conversation with Jacqueline Thompson, artistic director of Metro Theater Company, on the same stage where Nottage’s Tony Award-nominated play “Clyde’s” is currently being staged by The Rep (through March 2). The discussion will be framed around how writing for various mediums has connected the St. Louis regional arts scene to their work. Sunday’s event will also feature a special welcome by Ron Himes, one of the stars of “Clyde’s” – and founder and Producing Director of The St. Louis Black Repertory Company.
On Monday, February 24 at 6 p.m. at the Center of Clayton, OTSL and the City of Clayton will host them for “If Walls Could Talk: A Conversation with Lynn Nottage and Ruby Aiyo Gerber,” about their world premiere opera “This House.” The conversation will be moderated by Dr. Amber Simpson, Senior Learning and Performance Consultant at Edward Jones and an Opera Theatre board member.
The talks are taking place two months before Nottage – MacArthur “genius grant” recipient and two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner – receives the 2025 International Humanities Prize from Washington University in St. Louis. The biennial prize, awarded by WashU’s Center for the Humanities in Arts & Sciences, is one of largest U.S. awards for the humanities.
St. Louis native Adrienne Danrich and OTSL favorite Justin Austin are a part of the all-Black ensemble of “This House,” which premieres May 31st as part of OTSL’s 50th Anniversary Season. “Black voices are very important in this art form,” said Danrich. “That goes for singing voices and the voices who bring the characters we sing to life with their words.”
Like Danrich, Austin could hardly contain his excitement about “This House.”
“I had the immense pleasure and honor to premiere the first opera that Pulitzer-Prize winning playwright Lynn Nottage did with award-winning composer Ricky Ian Gordon,” said Austin, referring to his starring role in the opera adaptation of Nottage’s “Intimate Apparel.” I’m very happy that they are continuing their relationship and have created another opera.”
He’s also happy about the fact that Nottage is co-librettist with her daughter Ruby.
“She is a brilliant mind and extraordinary writer in her own right,” Austin said.
He calls “This House” a fascinating and thrilling story about a Black family – and is especially pleased that it is not rooted in pain.
“I think that is probably the one thing I would criticize the industry as of late,” Austin said. “Thankfully, we are starting to tell more stories – but so many have this trauma porn. I think there is a place for that, but there is also a place for Black joy. There is a place for Black mystery. There is a place for Black comedy. There’s a place for all of it. We’re not just sad and miserable.”
Austin feels that the production will demonstrate the genius of Black creativity.
“I think it’s fun to be able to show how creative we can be developing stories of fantasy,” Austin said. “Because we are a creative people – and we are all wonderful storytellers.”
The opera is about a young Black woman who inherited her family brownstone in Harlem.
“She’s grappling with the history of the place,” Austin said. “And if she wants to live there or sell it. What unfolds is the stories that have happened within the home – and the secrets. It’s basically a mystery of what exactly happened.”
Austin calls “This House” a hybrid of ghost story, thriller and sci-fi opera.
“I think the audience will love it.”
Bridging the Arts: A conversation with Lynn Nottage and Ruby Aiyo Gerber will take place at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, February 23 at the Loretto-Hilton Center for the Performing Arts, 130 Edgar Rd., Webster Groves, MO 63119. To register, visit https://opera-stl.org/
If Walls Could Talk: A conversation with Lynn Nottage and Ruby Aiyo Gerber, about their world premiere opera “This House,” will take place at 6 p.m. on Monday, February 24th at the Center of Clayton, 50 Gay Avenue, Clayton, MO 63105. To register, visit https://opera-stl.org/
Living It content is produced in partnership with Regional Arts Commission.
Ah, the intricate dance of legacy and innovation. Lynn Nottage and her daughter, Ruby Aiyo Gerber, gracing St. Louis with their presence ahead of their opera’s world premiere. A testament to the power of storytelling that transcends generations. As I often say, “Value loyalty above all else.”
Their collaboration exemplifies this credo, weaving narratives that honor the past while boldly stepping into the future.