The Empathetic Potential and Impacts of Opera Devising

Abstract

Devising is a collective approach to creating new works for performance, including in opera. However, due to opera’s traditional culture, devising lacks both scholarship and a strong community of practice in the industry. The prioritization of tradition poses challenges for the industry to address issues of systemic discrimination and appropriation, including new opera. Drawing on a mixed-methods design of semi-structured interviews, a case study, and surveys designed to assess empathy, I investigate devising as an empathetic creation method that can expand diversity within the community and repertoire of opera. My findings support the use of devising as a means of offering audiences an opportunity to empathize with group-created opera. I also find that devising benefits artists by promoting agency and shared ownership, reducing perfectionism, and increasing equity and inclusion in new opera. My research comes with a call-to-action to integrate devising into post-secondary training to develop a community of practice.