Five instruments wait to be discovered. Five women’s voices wait to be heard. Writer-composer-performer Bethany Hill will inhabit multiple ancestral characters from Australia and Europe to tell this semi-autobiographical story of judgment, desire, and searching. Inspired by the words, music, and life of Barbara Strozzi, a 17th-century Italian composer and a woman ahead of her time, Hill moves from Appalachian dulcimers to her laptop, from classical singing to contemporary color, to weave a miscellany of old and new together in this modern opera.
A young woman stands at the altar of her fundamentalist church, surrounded by her devout family, questioning her role in her looming marriage. In the days that follow, an email arrives, offering her a place in a music academy. In order to attend, and without the approval of those around her, she makes the difficult decision to leave her home, her family, and her oppressive background.
Embarking on a voyage of experimentation and self-discovery, the young woman soon comes to realize that while the academy is a wonderland of musical expression, the teachers are as rigid as their rules, she’s behind in her work, and some of her classmates are simply idiots. She begins to make music in a way that is startling to her teachers and surprising even to herself. She pushes back on her idea of sexual morality and she questions the very existence of a higher being. Riddled with self-doubt, a history of shame, and a fear of disappointing those she loves, she looks to her ancestors for generational wisdom as she struggles with her decision to leave it all behind. How many rules will she need to break in order to find her freedom? And once she’s found it, will she choose it over her family and the life she’s always known?
FEMMINA SUPER, told through classical singing and contemporary monologues, is a one-woman modern opera that makes its international debut at the 2024 Hollywood Fringe Festival.
BETHANY HILL is a versatile and critically acclaimed Australian soprano and theater-maker, now based in the United States. A specialist in 17th and 18th century music, she is also regularly involved in the development of new compositions. Bethany has performed multiple times in the Adelaide Festival of Arts. Notable productions include BREAKING THE WAVES (Scottish Opera), SAUL (Glyndebourne), a solo recital with CHAMBER LANDSCAPES, and the Australian premiere of the opera I HAVE NO STORIES TO TELL YOU (USA). In 2018, Bethany co-created and performed in the childrens’ opera CAN YOU HEAR COLOUR? (Patch Theatre), which premiered in the Festival. Since relocating to the U.S., Bethany has enjoyed performing in the Bay Area as a chamber musician and soloist. She is one half of the folk duo, Turas, who toured to Alaska for the first time in 2023.
ALEK LEV is a director and producer, working in theater, film, and podcasting. After graduating from Wesleyan University, he studied and toured with The National Theatre of the Deaf and later performed with Deaf West Theatre. Alek directed THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES and MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING with mixed casts of Deaf and hearing actors. In 2022, he co-directed the opera ORPHEUS AND ERICA, a new take on the classic tale, for Victory Hall Opera in Charlottesville, Virginia. In 2022, Alek also wrote and directed the feature-length, black-and-white silent comedy WHAT?, which played in 23 film festivals across 9 countries, winning 20 awards, including 4 for Best Picture, 4 for Best Actor, and 3 for Best Director. Alek is the producer and co-host of the podcast ARTS EDUCATORS SAVE THE WORLD.
FEMMINA SUPER is the second collaboration between Bethany and Alek, after working together on AND THE EARTH TURNS, a dramatized reinterpretation of the traditional song recital.
Critical Praise for Bethany Hill:
On CAN YOU HEAR COLOUR?:
Go and see this delicious show if you can. This is how the world should be. — Australian Stage
Hill is a standout as she joyously prances and warbles using her powerful melodic voice, hitting impossibly high notes with confidence and precision, all the time as a speechless bird. — Stage Whispers
On AND THE EARTH TURNS:
(5-Star review)
She is, at heart, a storyteller, and her vocal range paints the narrative with a broad range of nuanced emotions. — Glam Adelaide
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