Mixed Media “Resist the Romance: Nuclear History in the Land of Enchantment”
In the 1940s, Los Alamos National Laboratory was shrouded in secrecy. Work on the atomic bomb was a top-secret project, and not even the scientists’ spouses knew much about what was happening in the labs. The days and weeks leading up to the test blast at Trinity Site in July 1945 were a stressful time for all involved. Those in the know wrestled with the morality of the choice to use such a powerful weapon, and they worked around the clock to make sure their calculations were correct and that the bomb would function as planned.
Doctor Atomic, the 2008 opera by composer John Adams, is set during this span of time and focuses primarily on the inner turmoil of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the lead scientist for the Manhattan Project. He had the necessary drive to complete the project but was ultimately saddled with guilt about his role in the development of nuclear technology, which could have a catastrophic effect on the human race. The Santa Fe Opera presents Doctor Atomic as part of its 2018 season, directed by Peter Sellars, who wrote the libretto. Sellars and Adams collaborated previously on two other history-oriented operas, Nixon in China and The Death of Klinghoffer.
In advance of Doctor Atomic’s opening on July 14, The Santa Fe Opera and Creative Santa Fe present “Nuclear Weapons in New Mexico: A Disruptive Futures Dialogue,” at 3 p.m. Sunday, July 8, at the Lensic Performing Arts Center (211 W. San Francisco St.). The event, moderated by former White House correspondent and ABC news anchor Sam Donaldson, includes a conversation with Sellars; Emily Johnson, the choreographer for Doctor Atomic; and Ernest Moniz, the CEO of Nuclear Threat Initiative and former U.S. Secretary of Energy under President Barack Obama. The discussion begins with the history of nuclear weapons in New Mexico and then veers into an exploration about how art can stimulate social change and tell previously hidden stories that are vital to the public interest. During his time in Santa Fe, Sellars has been meeting with members of nearby Pueblo communities that were affected by the Manhattan Project, as well as members of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium, who experienced health complications as a result of the test at Trinity. Tickets to the panel are $5, ticketssantafe.org. — Jennifer Levin