Review: O23′s world premiere of ‘10 Days in a Madhouse,’ a back-to-front retelling of Nellie Bly’s journalistic ‘madness’

The new opera 10 Days in a Madhouse follows the real-life story of investigative reporter Nellie Bly who embedded herself in a New York asylum and published a bombshell exposé of the horrific conditions in 1887. Part of Opera Philadelphia’s O23 Festival and running through Sept. 30 at the Wilma Theater, the production features music from composer Rene Orth and a libretto by Hannah Moscovitch with Philadelphia native Kiera Duffy in the lead role. To review, The Inquirer sent classical music critic Peter Dobrin and theater critic Rosa Cartagena. Here’s what they thought.

Peter: I’ve found myself scratching my head a bit thinking about the social media ad for 10 Days in a Madhouse Opera Philadelphia has been running. It’s a statement from Orth: “Opera has a long tradition and fascination with madness and women” — which is certainly true — “often resulting in watching women suffer trauma and eventual death. This opera is not that.” But that’s exactly what happens in this opera, isn’t it?

Rosa: It is, and it isn’t. Most of the trauma is referenced in song, but we don’t see some of the horror we’re primed to expect from “asylum stories.” The action isn’t as visible, and with such a bare set from Andrew Lieberman, the audience is pushed to imagine the abusive conditions. Ice baths, hair pulling, beatings — Nellie sings about these experiences but it’s more exposition. What did you think of the staging?

Peter: Opera Philadelphia chief David Devan recently announced that he’s stepping down at the end of this season, and one of the hallmarks of his tenure has been putting the composer, librettist, singers, director, and stagecraft on an equal footing. I think this continued that philosophy. Elevating the small orchestra on a stage high above the action could have been a problem for the balance between the singers, orchestra, and the electronic sounds, but in a house as intimate as the Wilma, it worked. The conductor, Daniela Candillari, kept the ensemble impressively tight.

Rosa: It was very cool to see the musicians above instead of below, though I wondered if the lighting was a concern. An audience member in front of me held up their program at points to avoid the glare from the music stands. In other moments, the shadows played a large role in creating a looming presence of Dr. Josiah Blackwell (Will Liverman) and the “insane” women in the chorus, which I found hauntingly effective. But back to the sound, what did you think of Orth’s approach to electronic sounds to indicate the scary mental visions? I never thought I would hear dubstep in an opera, and it made me chuckle a bit.

Peter: I was heartened to hear how much Rene Orth has grown as a composer. I heard her Empty the House at the Curtis Institute a few years ago — she studied there — and it was hard to discern an original compositional voice. Here, she took her charge expansively, weaving together different styles and musical eras. I thought the contemporary musical references (I heard it more as an occasional disco beat) suggested that for all of the barbarism of society’s treatment of people struggling with mental illness and trauma a century and a half ago, in many ways, we haven’t evolved all that much.

Rosa: Absolutely. Pretty sure I heard a moment that sounded just like the Weeknd’s “Earned It” from the 50 Shades of Grey soundtrack. The word that kept coming to mind was gaslighting, a term that originated in the 1930s but has now become rather overused. In the story and in Nellie Bly’s real-life experience, she contended that she played crazy to get into the asylum aon Blackwell’s Island. But once she arrived, she acted entirely herself — told them that she was a reporter sent there to investigate the conditions, and they did not believe her. The opera seemed to sensationalize that question: Is she or isn’t she sane?

Peter: A question you could ask about a lot of people moving about in free society today who aren’t necessarily recognized as being mentally ill.

Rosa: Also a question you could ask about investigative journalists going to extreme lengths!

Peter: Reverse-sequencing the action, the way this opera does, gave us a chance to see what 10 days in an asylum can do to a person. Kiera Duffy, who sang the part of Nellie, played it perfectly. She is also an astonishing singer. The way she nailed difficult passages and matched the color of her voice to things going on in the orchestra was really impressive. Orth and Moscovitch created a wonderful role for her, as they did for the woman she befriends, Lizzie. The aria in which Lizzie sings about her daughter’s death covers an incredible emotional range, and it’s hard to imagine a singer who could have done it as imaginatively as Raehann Bryce-Davis did. In fact, the entire quartet of main singers — with Will Liverman as the doctor and Lauren Pearl as the nurse — contributed enormously to the piece’s success.

Rosa: Lizzie’s story was certainly a tearjerker and a clear accusation of the system that locked up a woman for grieving. And, yes, Duffy’s voice walks that edge of sanity, insanity, playfulness, and real fear. The reverse chronology was a smart subversion of the “descending into madness” trope, but it left me wanting to see more of Nellie’s strategic thinking. Initially, I thought starting with her 10 days in stripped the character of her agency — here was someone who cleverly figured out how to sneak in and then while she endured that abuse, she managed to keep notes and take away a change-making investigation. We don’t see that side of her until the end, and I wish we could have had more of an opportunity to give her credit not solely for surviving that trauma but also for reporting on it. Give her a notebook!

Peter: Yes, maybe between this reverse-chronology production, and last season’s La bohème with the acts presented in reverse order, Opera Philadelphia has now exhausted that idea and can move on.

Rosa: Is there anything you would want to see change in a future iteration?

Peter: I think any future production that can cast these singers has a strong piece on its hands. What about you?

Rosa: I’d love to see a touch more of Nellie’s reporter brain, given how much courage and, frankly, spunk it took to be a female journalist back then, let alone someone willing to go mad for the assignment. But I appreciated how the show hints at the immense toll the experience took on her. It was a pivotal, pioneering moment for journalism and women’s history.

Peter: Both could use the boost right about now, no?

Rosa: Well, I’m biased, but I’d say yes.

“10 Days in a Madhouse,” Sept. 23, 26, 28, and 30 at the Wilma Theater, Broad and Spruce Streets. Tickets are $75-$125. operaphila.org, 215-732-8400.