Dramatus Personae

LILLIAN ALLING

An Opera in Two Acts (Fourteen Scenes)

Music by John Estacio
Libretto by John Murrell


CHARACTERS IN THE OPERA (in order of their appearance):

IRENE, 78 years old in 1980
JIMMY, her son, 50 years old in 1980

All other Characters are in 1927-1928 or earlier:
LILLIAN ALLING, in her 20s
ITALIAN, GERMAN, SPANISH, and GREEK IMMIGRANTS,
who arrive with Lillian at Ellis Island, both genders, various ages
A MAN IN A DARK SUIT, who follows Lillian briefly (non-singing)

SERGEI NIKITICH LAZINSKY, in his late 30s
NORA, his Irish wife, in her 20s
THEIR THREE CHILDREN, all very young

STREET CORNER BOYS (8 or more) in Brooklyn, all young
BOBBY, one of the Boys
A FEMALE PASSERBY, in Brooklyn, any age

SHADOWY FIGURES from Lillian’s past: A MAN, A WOMAN,
A YOUNG BOY (Lillian’s father, mother, and brother);
SOLDIERS; a DARK MAN (Jozéf) – (non-singing)
A DRIFTER on the American prairies, in his 40s

NORWEGIAN MEN and WOMEN, immigrant farmers in North Dakota,
various ages
KARL, one of them, in his 50s
KRISTIAN, his son, in his 20s

SCOTTY MACDONALD, a young telegraph operator, in his 20s
BILL, another telegraph operator, in his 30s
CHARLIE, the same, in his 20s
SAM, the same, in his 40s
CONSTABLE WYMAN, a policeman, in his 40s

MALE and FEMALE PRISONERS at Oakalla Prison farm,
various ages

VANCOUVERITES, both genders, various ages

JOZÉF NIKITICH LAZINSKY, for real, in his 30s



The action of the opera takes place in 1980, in 1927 and 1928, and several years earlier (in flashback) – in British Columbia and elsewhere in Canada, in several locales in the United States, and in rural Russia (in flashback).