NO MAN'S LAND tells the story of a Faustian bargain made by a young farm girl during
the Great Depression in Oklahoma's panhandle, exploring American desperation during
the Dust Bowl: one of the top man-made climate disasters of all time.
LOG LINE
Tilly dreams of going to college and escaping rural domestic life. She is gifted a golden
locket from the family’s migrant worker, Santi, as a promise he will come back for her.
When Tilly’s sister falls ill with dust pneumonia, Tilly gives away her golden heart to a
suitcase farmer who promises her he can save Sissy’s soul. This bargain creates a never
ending rain, until Sissy must make the ultimate sacrifice for her family.
SHORT
SUMMARY
FULL SUMMARY
Our opera begins with an optimistic chorus, gloating about the American dream and
monetizing the untouched mid-Western land. Here we meet the White family, new
settlers in No Man's Land, hot on the trails of the wheat trade. Tilly, the eldest daughter,
scorns the countryside and longs to live in a big American city. She and her younger
sister, Sissy, hear whispers at school about a big dust storm. Pa releases their migrant
workers in anticipation of the storm. Before he leaves, Santi gives Tilly her first kiss and
his heart of gold. As he leaves, Tilly grows ill with dust pneumonia and Ma spends the
family's last bit of money on medical help for Tilly. Next, Sissy falls ill and there is no
money left to save her. A suitcase farmer we have only seen lurking in the periphery,
enters to speak with Tilly. He explains that her golden locket can save her sister’s life.
Heartbroken, she surrenders the locket and Sissy's life is saved, thus causing rain.
ACT I
The chorus wails of an endless rain and everything is drowning. Pa visits the suitcase
farmer and offers him his wife’s wedding band, instructing him to do whatever he must
to stop this rain. Sissy enters the dark barn with a lantern and rope, realizing the rain
hasn’t stopped falling since her miraculous recovery. Possessed, she hangs a noose from
the beam. For her family and the farm’s sake, she takes her own life. The rain stops. Tilly
finds Sissy and the suitcase farmer in the barn. Tilly doesn’t understand how her deal
expired; she gave away her gold heart for Sissy’s life. Santi enters the barn. Tilly begs
him for his golden key, in hopes of saving Sissy like she has before. Santi asks where her
locket is and Tilly desperately tries to explain, it makes no sense to him. Santi throws the
key at her feet and leaves. As the morning sun rises, the chorus celebrates the end of the
rain and better times ahead unaware of the largest loss of all
ACT II
CAST
SISSY
soubrette
MA
lyric soprano
WOMAN 1, nurse, neighbor
soprano
TILLY
mezzo-soprano
​
DEVIL
tenor
SANTI
tenor
MAN 1 farmer, neighbor
baritone
MAN 2 schoolteacher, neighbor
bass
PA
baritone
INSTRUMENTATION
Flute
Clarinet/Bass Clarinet
Bassoon
Horn
Trombone
Percussion I/II
Glockenspiel (I)
Vibraphone (I)
Bass Drum (II)
Suspended Cymbal (II)
Triangle (II)
Tambourine (II)
Castanets (II)
Guiro (II)
Whip (II)
Piano
Violin I/II
Viola
‘Cello
Double Bass
ABOUT
THE CREATORS
George and Goodwin have worked together in a variety of musical mediums. Their
initial artistic pairing began in 2018 with a commission from dell’Arte Opera Ensemble
to write Princess Maleine for their 2019 summer season at the historic La MaMa
Experimental Theatre.
​
Since, this duo have written an immersive opera, Fizz & Ginger, produced and
performed in June of 2023 by their chamber ensemble The Curiosity Cabinet at The
Comedy Cellar, the old site of the 1920’s Palm Casino. This opera was picked up by
Chicago Fringe Opera for May 2024 performances.
​
Throughout the pandemic, they created a tryptic of recorded radio dramas about
pandemics past, HOME, AXEMAN, and PAPER DAUGHTER. These had their stage
debut June 2024 at the Cell theatre, outfitted as a 1930s NBC studio.
George and Goodwin share the same artistic missions — create pieces with strong
femme characters, explore socioeconomics in past and current American culture,
establish art as activism.
RUN TIME
100 MINUTES
THE DUST BOWL & SUITCASE FARMERS
The Dust Bowl was a man-made climate disaster, born as a result of government greed to turn profit from indigenous grasslands into wheat fields. It was a business attempt to impose a system of agriculture to which the Plains are not adapted. And the land
rebelled.
​
Our story’s Devil disguises himself as a suitcase farmer; the real estate agents blamed for the Dust Bowl, betting thousands of dollars on rain and turning farmland into factory. These suitcase farmers outsourced labor and lived nowhere near the farms, so they were
not physically effected by the devastation like the poor folk they hired.
WORK SAMPLES
