It can be tough stepping up for the third adaptation of a beloved story, but thankfully SFCM Voice/Opera Studies faculty Rhoslyn Jones, a host of Francisco Conservatory of Music alumni, and the San Francisco Opera are up to the task.

Jones just finished her role as Ofglen in SFO's The Handmaid's Tale, which debuted on September 14 and concluded its run on October 1. A co-production with the Royal Danish Theatre, the music for the adaptation is by GRAMMY-nominated Danish composer Poul Ruders, and was written in 1998 in Danish; the English-language libretto was written by British actor and writer Paul Bentley. (Bentley is more familiar to American audiences as the villainous High Septon in Game of Thrones.) 2013 SFCM graduate Nikola Printz, a current Adler fellow through the SFO also co-stars alongside Jones, though revealing her character's name constitutes a spoiler for the overall plot.

Printz wasn't the only SFCM voice joining Jones for Handmaid's Tale. Aside from grads like Stella Hannock ('23) in the SFO chorus, Violin faculty member Kay Stern serves as the concertmaster for the Opera; Dave Maier, SFO's Fight Director, teaches both stage combat and stage sword fighting at the Conservatory; and Andrew King, Principal Coach in SFCM's Voice & Opera Studies Department, worked as a prompter for the production.

"I grew up in Canada and [Handmaid's Tale author] Margaret Atwood is one of our national heroes," Jones says. "So I read [the book] probably a little too early to understand what was going on. I remember that while reading it, my favorite character was the one I ended up playing in this production, so it feels like a full-circle moment. So between the book and the [streaming] show, I felt I had a good handle on the character."

Both the material and the music were challenging. "This is some of the hardest material any of us [at the Opera] have ever had to learn," Jones says. "It's meant to reflect the text and the chaos and the stress of the story, so it's not meant to sound like La bohème. I've heard people say, 'This music is hard to listen to, and you don't come away humming any of the melodies,' but that's not really the point of this work. Art is a form of protest and this is one of those moments. The music is quite angular and piercing at points, but there are also moments of beauty, and once you get into it, you can begin to hear where certain themes represent characters and tie it all together."

Jones plays Ofglen, a companion of the main character Offred; the San Francisco Chronicle wrote that Jones "brings a majestic, full-toned dignity to the role." Jones' and Printz's roles in the show continues a longstanding relationship between SFCM, SFO, and the Opera's Merola and Adler programs for aspiring artists: Jones was a two-time selectee for the Merola program and was accepted as an Adler fellow, where she now teaches; Printz spent three summers as part of the Merola program and was selected as a 2023 Adler fellow. Printz still studies with Jones, and their characters have an almost-literal "passing the baton" moment. Jones says, "We were texting the day of the last performance and Nikola called it 'poetic.'"

The difficult adult themes and disturbing violence weighed on the production, even though Jones says they're a part of the continuum of the medium's treatment of women. "Opera has, historically, not been awesome to women," Jones says. "So while it's not always front downstage center like it is in Handmaid's, it's certainly inferred, or it happens behind the scenes. I have to credit the directing staff because from day one, they made it a priority to make sure we all felt safe. We all talked very openly about it, we had an intimacy coordinator who worked with us, and that really makes the whole process feel more human, even though it's in service of portraying these inhuman moments."

On the day of her final performance, Jones admitted, "I'm exhausted. Production and the rehearsal process started before classes this year, so the busiest part was before the school year. And I have some generous colleagues here: Lester Lynch took over my studio for a couple of weeks while we were in tech rehearsals. I also had to modify my schedule: I don't teach on performance days. It's too much energy; it makes me less of a teacher and less of a performer, so I have to separate it in that way."

The Chronicle described The Handmaid's Tale as a "harrowing must-see production." For Jones, the Opera, and SFCM, though the narrative might have been harrowing, it ultimately ended up as another triumph.

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