In 'Our Basic Nature,' a radio story fit for an opera
by Chris Roberts, Minnesota Public RadioSt. Paul, Minn. — One of the more moving, memorable installments of the award winning public radio show "Radiolab," involves a psycho therapist and a chimpanzee. The episode, entitled "Lucy," delves into how the therapist tried to raise the chimp as his own daughter.
Pitting the forces of nature against man's need to tame it, it's a story that has the makings of an opera.
And that is what it has become.
Monday and Tuesday night, audiences will get a glimpse of the unfinished opera "Our Basic Nature," at Nautilus Music Theater in St. Paul as part of its "Rough Cuts" series.
MPR arts reporter Chris Roberts produced an audio assemblage about the production.
