ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½

It will open at Opera Theatre on May 31 and runs through June 29.

Set in a historic Harlem brownstone “This House� is about the Walker family and their century-long history in the home. Told through the lens of several generations, the drama centers on Zoe, an uptight investment banker, who returns home with visons of renovation on her mind.

When she receives pushback from her mother, Ida, and her brother, Lindon, tensions arise only to escalate when family secrets get revealed.

Gerber wrote the play while a student at Brown University and reflecting on the history of the multigenerational house she’d grown up in.

“When we enter a space, we enter it with all of the people who were there before us along with the weight of that history. That history also relates to our present day, which we are in a conversation with. It is the context for our life,� she says.

The play had an appeal that made Nottage want to adapt it into an opera.

“What first attracted me to the play was the fact that its world felt so complete,� Nottage says. “I was drawn to the beauty of the language, not just the dialogue, but the stage directions. I also was compelled by the story. It felt familiar in a way that I responded to.�

The opera marks the first time OTSL is collaborating with Nottage and Gerber. This is not Nottage’s first opera, however. She previously worked with Gordon on an adapting her play “Intimate Apparel� — about a Black seamstress in New York looking for love — into an opera that opened in 2022. Gordon previously worked with OTSL on “27� in 2014 and “The Grapes of Wrath� in 2017.

It was Gordon and his relationship with former OTSL artistic director James Robinson that lead to the commission.

“When we were thinking about a home for this production, the Opera Theatre of ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ felt like an ideal space because it has premiered so many new operas, particularly operas centered around Black voices,â€� Nottage says.

Robinson left Opera Theatre in 2024, but is returning to direct “This House.�

Creating the opera took years, Gerber says. “What was wonderful and unique about our experience was that we had the opportunity to workshop the libretto, which is something we don’t often get to do. It was great to hear the words before there was music, and for Ricky to hear them and give us notes. That prolonged the process; but in a necessary and fruitful way,� she adds.

“We also wanted the composer to be part of the dramaturgical journey of the piece, so that when he finally sat down to compose it, he felt a sense of ownership, not just of his work, but of all of the work,� Nottage adds.

While many familial creative partnerships implode, the dynamics between Nottage and her daughter were built on a foundation of love and trust.

“Selfishly, I got to spend time with my adult daughter, which was fantastic. I got to be in dialogue with her more often than most parents are with their children which was lovely. I think that we were surprised by how compatible we are as librettists, and how the skills that we each have complement each other,� Nottage says.

“It was interesting to see how different our approaches to storytelling were,� Gerber adds. “We had creative disagreements, but I think because we’re a mother and daughter, we could be blunt with each other. We were able to skip formality and be honest. We could tell each other what did and didn’t work and then change it.�

While Gerber is just starting out in her career as a librettist and writer, her mother is already a well-established playwright. But Gerber says that didn’t get in the way of their process.

“As someone who has read her work as an adult, it was wonderful to see the layers stripped back and for her to be so generous. I think there are a lot of ways in which she could not have been as generous because of who she is as a Pulitzer winner and my mother. She made sure that I had an equal voice, and I am grateful for that.�

Nottage sees the opera as a way to use storytelling as a vehicle for reflection.

“If we succeed, it is because people have had an immersive beautiful experience in which they’ve taken a journey with a family,� she says. “And when they leave, they will think more about their own intergenerational experiences and about how the spaces that they live in can be vessels of history and memory.�