+++
author = ["authors/jenna.md"]
categories = "Review"
date = "2017-08-03T12:39:00-04:00"
lastmod = "2017-08-03T13:08:00-04:00"
primary_image = "https://res.cloudinary.com/schmopera/image/upload/v1545409169/media/webhook-uploads/1501778798035/2017-08-03---Square---Sweatstills-photobyDahliaKatz-4998.jpg.jpg"
primary_image_credit = "Production image from Sweat, Bicycle Opera Project, 2017. Photo: Dahlia Katz."
publishDate = "2017-08-03T13:05:00-04:00"
related_articles = ["articles/when-art-is-not-enough-opera-activism.md","articles/art-is-not-action.md","articles/we-all-wear-clothes-they-sit-right-on-our-skin.md"]
related_companies = ["scene/companies/the-bicycle-opera-project.md"]
related_people = ["scene/people/stephanie-tritchew.md","scene/people/larissa-koniuk.md","scene/people/jennifer-nichols.md","scene/people/keith-lam.md","scene/people/emma-char.md","scene/people/caitlin-wood.md","scene/people/geoffrey-sirett.md","scene/people/catherine-daniel.md"]
short_description = "It&#039;s a story that confirms one&#039;s hunches about where their $12 tank tops come from, and one that addresses the unresolved truths that are sadly outweighed by the temptations of corporate profit and customer convenience (&quot;If I don&#039;t buy it, someone else will.&quot;). The opera itself is a cross between an ensemble piece and a vaguely heroic story of one factory worker who fights for fair treatment."
slug = "in-review-sweat"
title = "In review: Sweat"
+++

In mid-July, the [Bicycle Opera Project](scene/companies/the-bicycle-opera-project/) began its touring production of [*Sweat*](http://bicycleopera.com/upcoming-sweat/), the *a cappella* opera for 9 singers by composer [Juliet Palmer](/scene/people/juliet-palmer/) and librettist [Anna Chatterton](/scene/people/anna-chatterton/). In this production directed by Banuta Rubess, BOP is giving *Sweat* its Canadian premiere, bringing to Ontario audiences the bleak story of the lives of women who work in the garment industry's sweat shops. Happily, Schmopera got to watch a technical run in their current space, the Aki Studio at Toronto's Daniels Spectrum.

<figure data-type="image">{{% md %}}![](https://res.cloudinary.com/schmopera/image/upload/v1545409169/media/webhook-uploads/1501778869755/2017-08-03---Sweatstills-photobyDahliaKatz-5042.jpg.jpg)
<figcaption>(l-r) Alex Beley (background), Caitlin Wood, and Emma Char in *Sweat*, Bicycle Opera Project, 2017. Photo: Dahlia Katz.</figcaption>
</figure>

It's a story that confirms one's hunches about where their $12 tank tops come from, and one that addresses the unresolved truths that are sadly outweighed by the temptations of corporate profit and customer convenience ("If I don't buy it, someone else will."). The opera itself is a cross between an ensemble piece and a vaguely heroic story of one factory worker who fights for fair treatment. 

<figure data-type="image">{{% md %}}![](https://res.cloudinary.com/schmopera/image/upload/v1545409169/media/webhook-uploads/1501778891932/2017-08-03---Sweatstills-photobyDahliaKatz-4802.jpg.jpg)
<figcaption>(l-r) Cindy Won, Alex Beley, Larissa Koniuk, and Emma Char in *Sweat*, Bicycle Opera Project, 2017. Photo: Dahlia Katz.</figcaption>
</figure>

We meet a cross-section of sweat shop workers, a nameless group of women who reveal themselves as individuals with wants and needs; we also follow a union organizer (sung sympathetically by mezzo [Stephanie Tritchew](/spotlight-on-stephanie-tritchew/)) and her ambition - naïve as it may be - to gain fair pay and humane treatment for her and the other women working 16-hour days in dangerous conditions. She meets hurdles in the unsympathetic factory owner (sung hatefully by baritone [Keith Lam](/spotlight-on-keith-lam/)), and in fellow workers who refuse to risk the job they have (frustratingly embodied by [Larissa Koniuk](/scene/people/larissa-koniuk/)), dangerous and underpaid as it may be. Mezzo [Catherine Daniel](/scene/people/catherine-daniel/) gave a memorable performance as the Overseer, where she straddled a line between cracking the figurative whip around her workers, and showing moments of sympathy for their daily lives.

<figure data-type="image">{{% md %}}![](https://res.cloudinary.com/schmopera/image/upload/v1545409169/media/webhook-uploads/1501778901557/2017-08-03---Sweatstills-photobyDahliaKatz-4990.jpg.jpg)
<figcaption>Keith Lam in *Sweat*, Bicycle Opera Project, 2017. Photo: Dahlia Katz.</figcaption>
</figure>

Palmer's music is imaginative, evoking the world of a sweat shop factory in detail - an impressive feat, considering how few of *Sweat*'s audiences would have stepped foot in such a workplace. The cast of singers wavers between a unified voice and a horde of individuals; under music direction by [Geoffrey Sirett](/scene/people/geoffrey-sirett/), they mastered Palmer's claustrophobic harmonies and machine-like minimalism. Chatterton's libretto stands out as particularly evocative, never quite creating puns, but reminding us of the world with lines like, "pin your mouths".

<figure data-type="image">{{% md %}}![](https://res.cloudinary.com/schmopera/image/upload/v1545409169/media/webhook-uploads/1501778912781/2017-08-03---Sweatstills-photobyDahliaKatz-4964.jpg.jpg)
<figcaption>Catherine Daniel (left) in *Sweat*, Bicycle Opera Project, 2017. Photo: Dahlia Katz.</figcaption>
</figure>

The movement by choreographer Jennifer Nichols was a gorgeous complement to the *Sweat* score. In the same way that the style of singing was an organically heightened version of speech, Nichols' movement aesthetic felt rooted in something naturalistic, but with an organized beauty about it. The whole effect was seamless and fantastically done.

<figure data-type="image">{{% md %}}![](https://res.cloudinary.com/schmopera/image/upload/v1545409169/media/webhook-uploads/1501778930803/2017-08-03---Sweatstills-photobyDahliaKatz-5020.jpg.jpg)
<figcaption>Stephanie Tritchew and Larissa Koniuk in *Sweat*, Bicycle Opera Project, 2017. Photo: Dahlia Katz.</figcaption>
</figure>

Bike Opera at the end of a ~600km tour done by bike, rain or shine. The company has made a name for  itself not only with its consistently high-quality work, but by offering annual examples of touring productions which are successfully lean. No drama is lost in their minimalism; instead, each piece of set and prop seems to hold more significance. 

Go and see *Sweat*; it's onstage at the Aki Studio unfil **August 6**, so [click here](http://bicycleopera.com/upcoming-sweat/) for full details and tickets.
