Participation and Power

Chapter One : Participation and Power unravels some of the complex philosophies and attitudes behind the emergence of participatory opera, revealing numerous paradoxical contradictions that exist within the genre. On one end of the spectrum, key goals of participatory opera—such as renegotiating relationships between author, performer, and spectator—were explored by Richard Wagner. Just as with modern participatory artworks, Wagner’s idyllic “art-work of the future” was never fully realized, despite many attempts and a massive new theater. Indeed, his utopian ideals were impossible to achieve. By the early twentieth century, many participatory elements found their way into modernist music theater, experiments in environmental theater, or movements such as Futurism. Overall, this chapter articulates various impetuses that underpinned participation during the early twentieth century, revealing that later participatory opera might likewise embody a wide array of artistic, social, cultural, and political values.