Melanie
Long in Angel of the Amazon
Angel of the Amazon
By
Cammy Paglia
Under the direction of Nancy Rhodes and
musical direction by Elizabeth Hastings, composer-librettist Evan Mack’s Angel of the Amazon is an operatic
portrayal of a devout soul who was assassinated
for her convictions. Mack was inspired to write the work after attending a
lecture about Sister Dorothy Stang (Melanie Long). “Dot,” as she was called by
all who loved her, was a Roman Catholic nun of the Sisters of Notre Dame de
Namur, and a staunch crusader for environmental justice and opposition to
deforestation.
Her convictions came to fruition when
she began her ministry in Brazil in 1966.
Her mission—for which she gave her life’s blood—was defending the rights of
rural workers and indigenous peoples and steadfastly protecting the
environment—specifically the Amazon Rainforest. She had requested that she be
assigned to a mission where she would be working with the poorest of the poor. She
was there to acquire land rights from the government and “to help people
recapture a relationship with Mother Earth that is tender and kind”.
The ruthless, barbarous loggers of the Amazon were quite incensed by her
progress and her petitioning for land rights. The corruption of the government,
loggers and ranchers loomed over the heads of the people and jeopardized the
integrity of the rainforest. Her outspoken cries in defense of her vocation
were met with death threats.
Despite her awareness of the horrific consequences of her activism, Sister
Dorothy did not run. She knew at the outset that the indigenous people did not
have the privilege to flee the violence and greed of the landowners who
flourished off their backs and the rape of the land. To flee in order to save
herself would mean abandoning the indigenous farmers who she felt had “the
sacrosanct right to aspire to a better life on land where they can live and
work with dignity while respecting the environment.”
Sister
Dorothy was shot dead at the age of 73 by men who were employed by the owner of
a logging company. She was martyred for her relentless pursuit of social and
environmental justice.
Ensemble
of Angel
of the Amazon
Set design by Andis Gjoni made the best use possible of the backdrop of the
stage there is a beautiful and brilliant, yellow sun, and a stage floor was
artfully painted to look like a plot of land, where the actors would recreate
the activities of the farmers growing their crops. The musicians were stage
right; pianist, percussionist and violinist were clearly visible. The balance
of musicians to singers was off; music was much too loud making it difficult to
hear the words being sung.
Nevertheless, one could easily glean the sentiment and meaning because the
actors were quite skillful and the passion and sincerity they brought to their
characters were easily transmitted to the audience. It was clear that the
performers of Angel
of the Amazon
were gifted singers and actors; the audience clearly felt the devotion these
players had to Sister Dorothy’s cause.
This specifically points to the stellar acting ability of Melanie Long who
played Sister Dorothy with heartfelt empathy for the Brazilian people of the
rainforest and for their sacred land itself. We meet her wearing a nun’s habit,
yet she quickly changes to a crucifix around her neck, a long, red skirt and a
t-shirt that reads “A morte a foresta a o fin da nossa vida”. It is
Sister Dorothy’s quote when translated from the Portuguese reads “The death of
the forest is the end of our lives”. This costume change along with her talent
as an actor renders Melanie Long as a convincing nun who is truly a woman of
the people. She portrays a humble, devoted and loving woman who is not
afraid to get down on her hands and knees to tend to the earth alongside the Brazilian
people with deep reverence and gratitude.
Long’s most poignant moment on stage is when Sister Dorothy is ambushed by her
armed assassins, who ask her if she is carrying any weapons. It is truly heart
wrenching when she reaches into her shoulder bag and holds up her bible and
refers to it as her only weapon. If that isn’t enough to covey the purity of
her intentions, she then recites a passage from The Beatitudes, “Blessed are
the pure in spirit,” which turn out to be her final words as she is brutally slain
with the sound of deafening gun shots. She dies in the arms of Luis (Jose
Rubio) who is devastated.
Angel of the Amazon is truly a labor of love, an inspiring account of
what it means to take a stand against the forces of greed and corruption which
still remain a deadly threat to our planet and to an ecosystem which we are a
part of—not separate from.
May the message of this work be carried out of the theater and on to the
streets. May it convince us to pay heed to the woe that is out to destroy us if
we do not, even in some small way, carry on the work of the beloved Sister
Dorothy Stang—the mighty angel of the Amazon.
Angel
of the Amazon
At
the Sheen Center
18
Bleecker St. NY, NY 10012
November
17, 18, at 7:30pm; November 19 at 3 and 7:30
Tickets
$28-153
https://ci.ovationtix.com/34409/production/1140570?utm_source=theatermania&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=tmlisting
Running
time: 65 minutes
