Come Closer; libretto by Rachel Krehm, music by Ryan Trew, is a two act chamber opera about Rachel’s relationship with her younger sister Elizabeth who died as a consequence of heroin addiction.  Some of it is based on Rachel’s memories and much on the writing and drawings that Elizabeth left.  It premiered on Friday night and is currently playing in an Opera 5 production at Factory Theatre.

One might expect that it would be something of a downer given the subject matter but it really isn’t.  The relationship between the two sisters is quite touching though it has its explosively spikey moments.  Elizabeth’s poetry shows a deeply troubled mind but not in a threatening way.  It’s really a sort of elegy and that’s reinforced by Ryan Trew’s rather beautiful, tonal score.

The set design by Shannon Lea Doyle harks back to the days when Aria Umezawa created sets from two toilet rolls and some Post-It notes.  It does a lot with a little.  There’s a bed, an impression of a birch tree and a tree house.  Everything else is achieved with cardboard pop-ups like a children’s book.  It’s effective and feels appropriate.

Ryan Trew’s score is surprisingly colourful given a pretty basic ensemble of piano (Trevor Chartrand), cello (Rebecca Morton) and violin (Allene Chomyn).  The vocal writing is pretty straightforward with no flashy bits but it serves the story well.  The instrumental writing is mostly emotionally quite restrained but it rises to the occasion in the couple of places where more drama is called for.  Evan Mitchell conducts and does a fine job.

There are only two singers.  Rachel Krehm plays herself while Jacqueline Woodley, making a very welcome return to Toronto, is the younger sister.  Both sing clearly and pleasingly and convey a sense of character.  Rachel, it seems, is looking for a simple relationship that is never quite there and shows some frustration at her inability to understand while Elizabeth, on the surface a “normal kid”, clearly has something deeply “off” surfacing at random and sometimes almost violently.  Woodley does a fine job of portraying someone living on the edge and occasionally over it.

Amanda Smith’s direction keeps things focussed on the relationship and includes a couple of very neat touches; not least the one scene which alludes to addiction directly.  There are so many roses…

At 95 minutes spread over two acts Come Closer is actually quite long for a contemporary chamber opera but it doesn’t drag or feel overstuffed at all.  It engages and challenges, in a mostly quite gentle way, from beginning to end.

Come Closer continues at Factory Theatre until June 21st.

Photo credits: Emily Ding Photography