Hysteria

with Molly Pease and Divya Maus

Sunday, May 17th

7pm - 9pm

HYSTERIA is a rage-comic opera exploring women’s mental health through the lens of medicine, feminist fiction, reality TV, and the personal

At the 1909 New York Symposium on Hysteria, the Neuroticist –a world-renowned psychoanalyst– presents four of his patients in a ground-breaking new lecture: Cherie, an unwed mother; Kate, a wife suffering from hallucinations; Ameeta, a mother anxious to marry off her adult son; and Mona, an architect struggling to appease her commissioners. Each is trapped in a scene that pushes her to ‘hysteria,’ a syndrome the Neuroticist aims to cure. However, a specter haunts his demonstrations, stoking the women’s fury and leading to a final confrontation—a contest of the gods, and the birthplace of our fury.

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Performers

Molly Pease

Molly Pease is a GRAMMY-winning LA-based vocal artist and composer whose singing has been described as “sonically mesmerizing” (LA Weekly) and her genre-defying compositions described as “achingly gorgeous” (New Classic LA). Known for her singular interpretations of music in a range of styles, Molly brings expressiveness and theatricality to every performance. She is well-versed in folk, jazz, classical, opera, experimental, contemporary, and improvisational music. Passionate about interdisciplinary collaboration, she merges music, movement, and visuals in her work; performing in and composing for operas, albums, and concerts. 

Molly uses improvisation and extended vocal techniques to achieve an ethereal sound described by Emerging Indie Bands as “not of this world,” and draws listeners in with memorable melodies and textural harmonic soundscapes. She is inspired by nature and speaks honestly about mental health in her music. 

Divya Maus

Divya Maus is a German-Indian award-winning musician whose work spans the spectrum of theatrical, contemporary, and choral music. Her pieces have been performed by renowned artists including Shoshana Bean, the cast of Nickelodeon’s Baby Shark’s Big Show, and mezzo-soprano Geeta Novotny, as well as award-winning ensembles including the L.A. Choral Lab and Colorado’s Ars Nova Singers. She has scored plays for the New York City Children's Theatre, Smith Street Stage, and scored the dance fantasia The Shadow for Los Angeles-based dance-theatre company Mixed eMotion Theatrix. The lead single ‘Salty Water’ from Divya's debut album BIGGER earned her a finalist placement in the Great American Song Contest and led to her opening for the Beach Boys in Los Angeles in 2014. 

Divya was an original cast member of Heather Christian's ORATORIO FOR LIVING THINGS (2022 off-Broadway), TERCE: A PRACTICAL BREVIARY (2024), and is a collaborator and musician on the epic immersive theatre trilogy un/tethered created and produced by interdisciplinary dance company Holdtight.