dwb (driving while black)

Susan Kander and Roberta Gumbel's dwb (driving while black) tackles what it means to be a parent of a Black child who starts driving. In its swift 45 minutes, the listener spends 16 years with a Black mother, feeling her growing fear as her Black son moves towards driving age.

“The deeply affecting and innovatively conceived new chamber opera dwb (driving while black) makes its powerful impact with deliberately limited forces. The piece, by composer Susan Kander and first-time librettist Roberta Gumbel, is a 45 minute monodrama for female voice. The instrumentation, consisting only of cello and percussion, is refreshingly spare and surprisingly multicolored.…” (Opera News)

dwb (driving while black) will be presented at Mainframe Studios on July 8, Hope+Elim Church on July 15, and Viking Theatre at Grand View University on July 21. Each performance will feature a community talkback session immediately following the opera. 

DES MOINES PERFORMANCES
July 8: Mainframe Studios
July 15: Hope+Elim
July 21: Viking Theatre at Grand View University

CEDAR RAPIDS PERFORMANCE
June 16: African American Museum of Iowa

MUSIC BY
Susan Kander

LIBRETTO BY
Roberta Gumbel

PREMIERED
2018

SUNG IN
English (with English subtitles)

ESTIMATED RUN TIME
1 hour, 20 minutes (with a brief pause between performance and community talkback session)

COMPANY PREMIERE