I saw 'Opus' in a wonderful small intimate theater in Seattle. The play is centered entirely around an established string quartet, which is successful and changing. They have kicked out their violist and are starting with a new one. There are a number of themes that intermingle in the play, which is one act, and 90-minutes long. I love the format--you get in, you get immersed, it's intense, it's over, you get out. Maybe it is my ADD, maybe it is my age, but sitting still for longer than that is just too hard, and the break is not always good--it allows some of the intensity of the work to dissipate.
The first theme has to do with the creative process. The quartet has had a volatile and brilliant member--who was too unpredictable to be first violin, so he is a violinist turned violist. So not happy, not stable, mercurial and inspirational. As the group ages, they become less able to tolerate his short-comings and ultimately vote him out. But he is not one to go quietly into the night.
A subplot is the relationship between the creative leader and the actual leader of the quartet--which is also going down the tubes (Allen Fitzpatrick and Todd Jefferson Moore). Their personal tribulations intermix with the group's problems, and the tension is palpable. Finally, there is the role playing that occurs within any group--we are used to seeing family dynamics, but really, it is group dynamics, and the play is best at depicting the shifting dynamics between each member--the scapegoat, the peacekeeper, the one who suffers in silence until he can take no more. It is a psychologically powerful play, well worth seeking out and seeing.
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