The Paradis Files: Opera like Never Before?

2021 will see the premiere of Graeae’s first chamber opera to be created and performed by Deaf and disabled artists. What’s more, the work tells the story of a disabled composer and musician from the 18th-century.

Directed by Jenny Sealey with music by award-winning composer Errollyn Wallen, The Paradis Files chronicles the life of Maria Theresia Von Paradis (1759-1824) an Austrian composer, pianist and singer known as “The Blind Enchantress”. The opera has been commissioned by Milton Keynes-based theatre The Stables as part of its fiftieth-anniversary programme for IF: Milton Keynes International Festival and is being produced by Graeae.

Promotional poster for The Paradis Files showing the protagonist in 18th-century style clothing, hair and makeup against a teal background. — **Promotional poster for *The Paradis Files* showing the protagonist in 18th-century style clothing, hair and makeup against a teal background.**

On Friday 25 September, a short documentary about the making of the opera was screened as part of this year’s Tête à Tête opera festival. The documentary detailed how the idea for this piece came to be and showcased how the cast and creative team have been working together through lockdown to bring the story of Paradis to life. Read more about the documentary, including full credits, on the Tête à Tête website.

Opera is already a somewhat multimodal art form, bringing together text, dance and drama within a musical framework. By incorporating signing and captions as further crucial components of the genre, The Paradis Files explores the artistic aesthetic of accessibility, promising to show us just what opera can be when we push its boundaries.

Black and white still from The Paradis Files documentary showing three singers rehearsing in a row. The caption reads “The Blind Enchantress!” — **Black and white still from the documentary about *The Paradis Files* showing three singers rehearsing in a row. The caption reads “The Blind Enchantress!”**

Paradis was a contemporary of Haydn, Mozart and Salieri and, in the documentary, Composer Wallen explains how she has incorporated the essence of eighteenth-century music into the opera’s score, including some more-or-less direct quotations from Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 18 in B-flat major, which was supposedly written for Paradis. In the snippets that we heard as part of the screening, these Classical references are fused with a more contemporary musical aesthetic to produce an eclectic, evocative sound world.

Still from The Paradis Files shows composer Errollyn Wallen, a black person with curly brown hair, seated at the piano writing in a notepad. — **Still from the documentary about *The Paradis Files* showing composer Errollyn Wallen, a Black person with curly brown hair, seated at the piano writing in a notepad.**

The initial idea for the opera came from journalist and co-librettist Selina Mills, who came across Maria Theresia Von Paradis while doing research on blind female role models for a book. Librettists Nicola Werenowska explains that the opera’s narrative begins later in the life of Paradis. It is a time of contentment when her composing career is over and she’s established a music school for blind girls. However, during the opera, the arrival of her Mother prompts flashbacks to her more traumatic earlier life, when her achievements were used as ‘inspiration porn’ and, while her family profited from her disability, she was subjected to inhumane ‘treatments’ on a daily basis.

Portrait of Paradis by Faustine Parmantié. A black and white sketch shows a woman in profile view with a late 18th-century hairstyle. Text reads, Paris, 1784. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Unlike many operas that seek to depict disability, The Paradis Files takes the perspective of its blind protagonist as a starting point, revealing how the disabled experience of the eighteenth century has echoes today. From the snippets featured in the documentary, the opera appears to offer nuanced engagement with the composer’s history with respect and occasional humour, without resorting to stereotypical disability representation.

Bethan Langford, a white visually impaired soprano with brown fringe bangs, smiles and points to the left of the camera. The caption reads, “Haha that’s good!” — Black and white still from the documentary about *The Paradis Files* showing Bethan Langford, a white visually impaired soprano with brown fringe bangs, smiling and pointing. The caption reads, “Haha that’s good!”

For soprano Bethan Langford, the opportunity to play a blind character is unique. She is visually impaired but has only been cast in sighted (or not explicitly visually impaired) roles in the past and, typically, this has meant acting sighted. There are new complexities to navigate in the case of The Paradis Files: Langford explains that playing a blind character like Paradis while having some sight was unusual at first. However, she was encouraged by Sealey to act the character of Paradis through her own experience and her own sight. This has been freeing not only in terms of developing her own version of Paradis but also in constructing a professional setting that not only meets the needs of its Deaf and disabled professionals but celebrates their differences and their unique artistic insights. Langford’s praise for the Paradis Files rehearsal environment is echoed by her fellow Deaf and disabled cast mates.

Black and white still from the documentary about The Paradis Files showing director Jenny Sealey addressing cast members sitting around her in a circle. The caption reads “We have a license to play”. — Black and white still from the documentary about *The Paradis Files* showing director Jenny Sealey addressing cast members sitting around her in a circle. The caption reads, “We have a license to play”.

Pushing boundaries of accessibility and inclusion in opera production and breaking new ground in terms of disability representation in the genre, The Paradis Files may be, as Sealey suggests, “opera like it has never been done before”.

The Paradis Files will premiere at The Stables theatre next summer.

Share this article: