On June 27, 1918, the Canadian hospital ship HMHS Llandovery Castle was torpedoed off the coast of Ireland.
Occupied only by the ship’s crew and constituents of the Canadian Army Medical Corps, the tragedy became known as one of the worst of the First World War. Two hundred thirty-four lives were lost, including 14 Canadian nurses, known at the time as nursing sisters.
Canadian composer and Associate Professor in the music department, Stephanie Martin, was introduced to the legacy of the HMHS Llandovery Castle upon discovering a memorial plaque dedicated to one of these nurses at Calvin Presbyterian Church.
Martin’s opera The Llandovery Castle, produced with librettist and York alumnus Paul Ciufo, premiered on the 100th anniversary of the tragedy. A fully staged production of the opera, filmed live at Wilfrid Laurier University, can be viewed now on YouTube.
Professor Martin spoke with Excalibur’s Arts Editor, Shaughn Clutchey, to discuss The Llandovery Castle.
Q. In an interview in The Llandovery Castle performance program (available on The Llandovery Castle website), you explained that you started having nightmares about the history of this tragedy. Why did this history inspire such a profound reaction? How did you relate to the tragedy on a personal level?
A. I think my subconscious mind was working out all the horrible First World War material that I had been reading, particularly the battle scenes conjured by a Canadian novel written by Charles Yale Harrison called ‘General’s Die in Bed.’ My nightmares fragmented and re-shaped the violence of that dreadful war, and most profoundly horrible, I was re-living the scenario of dying at sea, like the 14 Canadian nurses on the Llandovery Castle hospital ship when it was torpedoed in 1918. It’s amazing how much work our brains are doing while we are asleep. That probably enabled me to carry on with the project whilst fully awake!
Q. One of the scenes I found most impactful was “Nightmare and Pearl’s Aria.” The apprehension, fear, and pressure, undoubtedly felt by most on the ship, was made very clear through the character of Rena ‘Bird’ McLean. The audience also becomes aware of the leadership and warmth of the matron, who had appeared tough and rigid in earlier scenes. Was there historical information that allowed you to develop these characters?
A. Writing a piece of theatre or opera demands a certain considered tension between developing interesting characters and shaping a meaningful storytelling arc. The evidence we used to build our vision of the characters came from actual letters, diaries, newspaper reports, military records, and family scrapbooks. Quite apart from researching the flesh-and-blood women who lived this reality, our job was to represent the experience of all nurses who worked through the war. We tried to bring in the pieces of evidence we had, and balance that with the demands of reducing all this information into an hour and a half of performable music drama. We retained many of those personal details – for example we know from her letters that Rena ‘Bird’ McLean bought a flashlight on her last visit back to Halifax. We know that many of these nurses had served together in other conflict zones, like Salonika and France, so their bonds of trust and friendship must have been very strong, notwithstanding the need to maintain the rigid framework of military discipline.
These women all held the rank of officer, and as such were expected to perform as equals to their male counterparts. They were highly respected for their grace under pressure, but after four years of constant strain, most of the nurses on Llandovery Castle hospital ship were suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Q. What made Paul Ciufo the perfect fit for this project? Together, you put extensive research into this piece, including speaking with family members of the nursing sisters. How did this impact your dedication and drive to bring the piece to fruition?
A. Paul is an award-winning playwright, and a York alumnus. Although Paul had not written an opera libretto before, he was very keen on the challenge, and familiar with writing historical dramas. I developed a lovely connection with Rena ‘Bird’ McLean’s family out East, while Paul corresponded with the grandson of Sergeant Knight out West in Vancouver. I flew out to PEI for an event in Souris, Rena McLean’s hometown, and met nursing historian Katherine Dewar, whose book provided rich material for our research. Many family members ended up coming to Toronto for the workshop production and were very moved by the performance. Getting to know the families certainly heightened our sense of responsibility to commemorate these heroic women.
Q. What are some (of the many, I’m sure) challenges associated with producing a new opera? Were there any specific production hurdles that were overcome?
A. Time is the essential ingredient. I am so grateful to York for granting me a sabbatical year to give me the time to work on the opera. It would not have happened otherwise. There were many hurdles to creating the opera and bringing it to the stage, but far more important was the support we had with a great manager, Jennifer Collins, a great creative team in the Bicycle Opera performers, and director Tom Diamond who led us through the first workshop performance. In the audience of that first iteration was the head of vocal studies at Wilfrid Laurier University, Kimberly Barber. She boldly embraced the piece and took on the task of producing the first staged performance which took place at Wilfrid Laurier at the end of February, 2020. The date is significant, since 12 days after the opera closed, COVID-19 shut down the university. So, to answer your question, hurdles, yes; but far more important were the bold strokes of luck and people willing to take a chance on a new opera!
Q. What were your emotions watching the opera premiere on the 100th Anniversary of the tragedy?
A. A lot of performers will relate to this feeling. As the composer I was in the audience, but I had several jobs to do – to present a pre-concert chat, to welcome guests and historians from across the country, liaise with the audience, members of the press, and a documentary filmmaker. In the moment, an artist can’t always indulge in an emotional experience. It’s only the day after that you can actually take a breath and realize what happened. Much of our emotional capital was spent during the creative process. Although Paul and I were collaborating from a distance, there were many tears shed over the manuscripts, and the scenes as they were coming out. We both wanted to change the ending of the show and let all the nurses live!
Q. Where does The Llandovery Castle go from here? Do you have any plans for future productions of this piece?
A. We’d love to see productions right across the country, since the nurses represent almost every province of Canada. There are healing heroes to celebrate right across the country. COVID-19 has hit live performance companies very hard, so now, what can be done is promote the beautiful video we have of the Wilfrid Laurier student performance, directed by York grad Liza Balkan. We can relive the opera digitally until we get another opportunity to bring it to the stage.
For more information about the opera and history of the tragedy, visit The Llandovery Castle opera website.
