The Interaction Effect
libretto by Laura Barati
music by Pamela Stein Lynde
In The Interaction Effect, Mikaela, a senior statistics major at a liberal arts college, just wants to forget the night her friend Adam raped her at a college party, and her school administration’s painful mishandling of her assault. But when Mikaela learns that Adam has assaulted another student—a sophomore too scared to report the assault—she is forced to confront her community and administration’s desire to ignore campus sexual assault.
Development and Recognition
Commission by Fresh Squeezed Opera for their 2025 season, NYC.
The American Opera Project/Manhattan School of Music Workshop. Dir. Anne Shikany, March 2020, NYC.
The American Opera Project/Manhattan School of Music Workshop at Opera America. Dir. Anne Shikany, April 2019, NYC.
The American Opera Project Reading. Dir. Mary Birnbaum, September 2018, NYC.
The American Opera Project and Manhattan School of Music’s Workshop performance presentation, Page to Stage: New American Opera Previews at Opera America.
Presented in association with The Douglas Moore Fund for American Opera and Opera Index, in collaboration with American Opera Projects and Encompass New Opera Theater.
Performers: Josi Petersen as Mikaela and Sophie Blatt as Dahlia; with Sarah Brownawell, Dylan Courtney, Hao Jiang, and Rachel Querreveld
Music Director: Kristen Kemp
Director: Anne Shikany