Explore the vast range of titles available.

As a composer, I am interested in the ways opera creators can borrow techniques from the theatrical subgenre of documentary theatre to create works that both convey greater authenticity and retain accountability to the people whose narratives we borrow for our librettos. I begin by engaging work by scholars across a variety of arts-related fields to theorize authenticity. I also examine texts on documentary theatre to construct a short list of common techniques documentary theatre creators have used to enhance the authenticity of their works. I then analyze two American operas that use interviews or memoirs as their primary source material (Stewart Wallace and Michael Korie’s Harvey Milk and Tom Cipullo’s Glory Denied) through the lenses of documentary-theatrical techniques and my theorization of authenticity. In this paper and my associated opera project, I demonstrate that opera derived from real people’s narratives has the potential to ofer audiences nuanced portrayals of human experience—portrayals that remain loyal to the spirit of the testimonies and ofer audience members with similar experiences moments of recognition and solidarity.