‘Breasts of Tiresias’ challenges idea that no one cares about opera

Thérèse (Katie Joy Wingo, '26) announces to her husband (Derec Gregory, '27) that she is now the male General Tirésias and is heading off to war as his paintings look on. Photo courtesy of Nick Zimmerman.

As Willamette’s Dramatic Vocal Arts program was gearing up to perform “The Breasts of Tirésias,” actor Timothée Chalamet ignited an online firestorm after claiming that “no one cares” about opera or ballet. While his words were taken somewhat out of context, the effort behind the production and the turnout for the 1947 surrealist opera in Smith Auditorium made it clear that audiences still care about opera.

Directed by Hannah Penn, chair of the program, the opera tells the story of Thérèse (Katie Joy Wingo, ’26), a woman who grows tired of being submissive to her husband. She sheds her breasts, grows a beard and becomes the male General Tirésias. Fearing that the country will be left devastated as more women do the same, her husband decides to find a way to have children, giving birth to 40,049 in a single afternoon.

As with many classic operas, the story and themes can be adapted through creative choices to connect with the audiences of today. To Penn, the lead’s rejection of femininity is strongly resonant to today’s culture.

“It's agency about her body, body modification, gender affirming [care],” Penn said. “It has lots of modern words that we could put on it.” When the opera was written in the 1940s, based on a play by Guillaume Apollinaire, the story was and still remains a surrealist spoof.

“It was a very visual way to show that she was rejecting this sexualized concept of femininity. [Thérèse] was like, ‘I don't want to be that. I don't want to be a sex symbol anymore.’ So ... she pops her boobs,” Penn said.

A striking feature of the set was the massive eyes glaring across the stage and the audience. This choice was another one made to adapt the story to connect with today’s students, along with adding to the production’s surreal nature.

“My concept for it … was that the husband is not just a husband. He's a painter, and so the wife becomes his muse and his model,” Penn said. “There's this concept of the male gaze as being a really oppressive and omnipresent thing, and we've created that on the stage with these giant eyeballs that are everywhere. … They should create a little anxiety in the audience.”

On Friday night, that audience was out in force, with numbers in the hundreds. 

Even though the opera dealt with heavy themes, the production remained lighthearted throughout. A man rides an inflatable horse in from the wings, babies made of cardboard dance across the stage, and multiple characters die and get better nearly immediately. 

Derec Gregory (’27), who played the role of Tirésias’ husband, said that the comedy of the show breaks down the common idea of what opera is supposed to be.

“Opera isn't boring,” Gregory said. “Opera isn't perfectionist. Opera is whatever you make it to be. It can be fun; it can be expressive; it can be weird; it can be stupid; it can be hilarious. And I think just kind of spreading that message of taking it lightly, rather than being perfectionist with it, is a great way to make it more digestible for audiences.”

One of the main distinctions between opera and musical theater is that opera is typically sung-through, often without microphones, while musicals tend to include more spoken dialogue. The common idea of opera as a stuffy event with performers in period costumes singing long arias reduces a diverse art form to just one part of what it can be.

“It's a little bit like if your whole concept of spoken theater was Shakespeare, and you didn't know any other theater,” Penn said. “ Of course, there are some operas like that, but opera has been composed for 400 years. It's still being written.”

Today, many operas challenge common expectations, incorporating humor, spoken dialogue and contemporary themes. Some Broadway productions are also staged by opera companies, further blurring the lines between genres.

“Some of it is really lighthearted and goofy … and some of it is very serious,” Penn said. “And because it's a really diverse art form ... there's the whole range of styles and tone and content and theme.”