Last year Lauren Ginsberg was excited to be invited to write a historiographical essay and to contribute to the world premiere of the new opera, Poppaea, by composer Michael Hersch and librettist Stephanie Fleischmann. This past week, she traveled to Baltimore for its first screening in the US to introduce Poppaea's life and to take part in a panel discussion with opera creators: Staging Poppaea - Gender, Power and Violence. How do we stage violence against women in the contemporary moment in a way that centers the experience of women? How do we allow women of Roman history to appear on stage as fully-realized, three-dimensional people rather than stereotypes? And what do we do with a woman who is not so easily characterized by villain or victim? These are the themes that the opera's creators center and which Lauren Ginsberg has been invited to speak about.
Lauren Ginsberg's work with this opera was also the focus of a DukeDaily special last year. Check it out here: https://today.duke.edu/2021/12/duke-professor-contributes-new-opera
