Thanks very much to Tom and to everyone who posted questions – and to you, the reader.
Tom is signing off now. He writes:
Chuck Strum also asks:
You appear to have a very poor attitude toward those protesting the Opera.They have very legitimate concerns and are made up of a very diverse group.The Met is probably not the place for such a controversial piece.It would have made more sense off Broadway.
Guardian contributor You are misinformed.
At a recent ISGAP meeting i was impressed by the passion and clarity of Dr Small in his genuine concern about antisemitism and in his wise advice that "the moment we see our own face in the face of the other is the moment we become human." I applaud this position.
But your posts clearly show that you do not know the opera, which neither glorifies nor celebrates the murder of Leon Klinghoffer.
My position is that the admirable arguments of some of the protestors have been badly misapplied to an opera which has nothing to do with them.
operanut78 says:
People who are protesting should see opera and THEN form an opinion about it.
Guardian contributor Honestly, i think that many of them are not really protesting about the opera. They are protesting in order to raise awareness about antisemitism (a real and present danger in the world) - and have been poorly advised that the opera is a suitable hook to hang that argument on.
Tom replies to Ruth about the two ways he depicted Klinghoffer’s murder:
Guardian contributor Partly it connected with the decision to stage Omar's Aria as a memory, in which he was being prepared to fight and die for his beliefs (which connects with the first staging), partly with the Marilyn Klinghoffer's terrible experience of hearing the shot and paying no attention to it (relating to the second staging) and partly the importance of showing the horror of the killing itself. It is the tragedy at the heart of the opera.
Samuel Franklin asks:
Why should artists such as John Adams depict modern events shortly after their occurance, when emotions are still high, rather than wait 50 or 100 years?
Guardian contributor
Rachel Blair asks:
Are there any symbols unique to the Met staging? Is there a possibility of an HD recording going on the Met on demand, at least? Were you and the cast afraid to walk out on opening night, with all the threats? What is your personal favorite scene from the production and why? Also, congratulations to you all for a celebrated opening night (especially given the circumstances). I wish I could see it, but I’m stuck out in California.
Guardian contributor Thanks
During the first part of the creative process, there was a lot of quite angry objection to the staging of the opera in the digital media. Because it's hard to gauge exactly who is writing this at any point, it can indeed be intimidating.
Some of the company therefore went and met the demonstrators at the launch of the Met season - and i attended a meeting organised by them to recruit volunteers to sit in their "caravan of wheelchairs". Seeing that they were passionate people, who could be chatted to (if not agreed with) helped to dispel the fear.
leedsopera asks:
I’m looking forward to seeing the production in a few weeks. The controversy is deeply painful to me, but I strongly support the arts as a medium for addressing social issues. QUESTIONS: Are their changes with this production in response to the critics of the opera?
Guardian contributor Not consciously, no.
But of course the sensitivity of the subject means that we were careful in the choices we made while staging it.
Janice Isaac asks:
I saw it on opening night, and it was beautiful, so thank you. I was interested in the choice to make Omar a dancer. I loved it, but I was wondering what inspired you to do that.
Guardian contributor Thank you
In the opera as written, the part of Omar (and we should note that the hi-jackers in the opera are only very loosely based on the characters of the historical hi-jackers) has a single aria which is written for a Mezzo Soprano to sing.
It is also clear that the opera was originally conceived to include choreography as part of its theatrical language.
In this production, I decide do make Omar's aria a voice from his past, which he remembers, and to cast Omar as a dancer.
This enabled us to investigate his experience as the youngest of the hi-jackers who, in our staging, is ordered to shoot Leon Klinghoffer.
RuthSpencer has replied to Tom’s earlier question about whether she saw it live and what she made of the double staging:
Guardian staff Hi Tom -- yes! I did. I saw it on opening night. The staging of the first scene (with Klinghoffer's back to us) is striking. The sunset, the image of Klinghoffer by the railing... it's almost beautiful. But, considering the controversy surrounding the production, I was expecting something more violent, which is what I got from watching the second staging (the blood spatter, etc.)
Very interested to hear your thoughts on why you chose to represent the moment this way.
Patricia Contino asks:
First of all, I hope the trouble won’t discourage you from coming back to NYC to direct again. It is unfair and misdirected.
Is there any chance that the Met production will be filmed/recorded?
Guardian contributor
CelesteSmith asks:
When the production opened in London, there was virtually no controversy, certainly no protest. Were you surprised by the New York reaction to the piece?
Guardian contributor Our colleagues in New York warned us that some organisations would be likely to use the fact that the opera had been programmed as an opportunity to express their views.
Will Wilkin asks:
I was at the Monday night Met premier of this opera and saw no basis for calling it “anti-semitic.” Many operas have villains and the villain sings their part, this is hardly a “romanticization” or “glorification” of their villainy. Why are the terrorist villains of this opera not recognized as villains by the protestors? Surely the murderers in the opera are not portrayed as heroes.
Guardian contributor Yes exactly.
It is one of the jobs of drama to represent moments when human beings commit horrific acts. Great works of art (Macbeth for example) actually allow us to see the humanity of character in question even while they are committing the horrific act.
This does not of course mean that such works of art condone the horrific act - even though they might confront us with the disturbing fact that the person who has committed it is human, like the rest of us.
That's why i find it so strange when people say that the opera shouldn't "humanise" the people who killed Leon Klinghoffer. They were already human.
Jonas Tarm asks:
What do you think would be the most ideal reaction from an audience member that has seen your production of The Death of Klinghoffer?
Guardian contributor My ideal response is that people think about and reflect on the crime that the opera dramatises and - if they choose - the circumstances which might have led to it.
I'm also fascinated by the dilemma faced by the captain, whose entire crew and passengers have been taken hostage, and who has to work out whether or how to engage with the hi-jackers. I hope people will think and talk about what he could or should have done.
RuthSpencer asks:
The scene when Klinghoffer is shot appears twice in the production -- once when he faces away from the audience, and one when he faces us. Can you explain why you chose to do that?
Guardian contributor The opera as it is set out in the score does not always define exactly what is happening at exactly what point. In setting out to direct the show, one of the challenges i set myself was to bring the story of the opera to the surface.
This is one such moment.
I'll happily answer your question but i'd be fascinated to hear first what you made of the double staging. Did you see it live?
Tom adds:
Guardian contributor I might as well just say it here that the opera in no way glorifies murder, as any who have seen it will tell you.
ID9979685 asks:
I feel very saddened that protesters, around the world, have been permitted to shut down art, and deny people the opportunity to make up their own mind. You chose to go ahead. What made you feel it was worth pushing through despite all the risks to you and your brave cast? (and thank you for doing so).
Guardian contributor Thank you
The positive thing is that even though some of the protestors very clearly didn't want the opera to go ahead, no one actually said it should be censored. And on the opening night, there was actually something positive about the frank and peaceful exchange of fiercely contradictory views which took place.
I will nonetheless pass on your thanks to the cast, who have indeed shown bravery in performing the show.
Tom Morris is online answering your questions in the thread
I’ll post his answers here as he types them too. The first questions was from me:
I’ve got a question: does Tom think that there is an increasingly hostile environment to artists around the world, with Exhibit B being cancelled in London after protests and the vandalism of Paul McCarthy’s sculpture Tree in Paris? Does he worry about it, and why does he think it’s more prevalent now?
Guardian contributor That's a fascinating question
My impression of the protestors in New York was that there was a genuine fear among them - not about the opera, as it happens, but about a perceived rise in global antisemitism. This kind of fear can be contagious. When you're inside a creative process it can sometimes be intimidating too. I think this makes it more important to take stand in defence of art which some people might claim is offensive.
Updated
On Monday, John Adams’s opera The Death of Klinghoffer opened at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. It was greeted by protests outside and inside the venue – as well as a standing ovation.
On Friday at 1pm ET, Tom Morris, the director, will be online to answer your questions about his production.
The opera, which was first performed in 1991, is based on a real event; the hijacking of the cruise liner Achille Lauro in 1985 by the Palestinian Liberation Front. The terrorists murdered one passenger: Leon Klinghoffer, a Jewish American wheelchair user, whose body was thrown overboard.
Many – including Leon Klinghoffer’s daughters – people bitterly object to the way Adams’s opera draws links between the displacement of Palestinian people by Israel and Klinghoffer’s murder.
On Monday, speakers including former mayor of New York Rudolph Giuliani expressed their anger that the opera humanises and seeks to understand Klinghoffer’s killers. They also say that The Death of Klinghoffer is antisemitic, a charge rejected by the Met.
However, others say that this is a misrepresentation of the opera, which concludes with an aria by Klinghoffer’s wife expressing her anger and sadness. On Tuesday, the Guardian published the views of four New Yorkers who were at the first night at the Met. A second performance takes place on Friday night.
Morris is the artistic director of the Old Vic theatre in Bristol and, England, and in 2011 won a Tony award for best direction of a play for War House. Please post your questions for him now in the comment section below.
Updated
Many thanks to everyone for taking part in this.
It is fascinating that conversation ranges so quickly from detailed discussion of the production into the political context which is so fraught and which is still an ongoing global struggle.
I think that, in the end, is why we've had protests and why there is so much interest in and response to the production.
Of course the discussion which seems most enriching to me is the one which takes please once people have seen the production - even when I disagree with the views expressed and it strays quickly into politics and away from the opera itself.
But it is in the nature of art which engages in live, difficult subjects that the response will itself be live and difficult. And to be honest, that is part of its value.