Lyric Opera 2022-2023 Issue 9 - Proximity

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 20 SCENE 5 The Walkers, “The Murder of Nine-Year-Old Lil’ Bunchy Bates” Walking down the street, Lil’ Bunchy Bates is shot by an unknown assailant. Preacher Man attempts to lead his funeral—until another unknown assailant shoots out the funeral, aiming at Chief’s Daughter #1 who is in attendance. She believes it is a retaliation for Lil’ Bunchy Bates—yet she swears she did not kill him. Curtis, Arne, Bilal, and Preacher Man lament the never ending cycle. SCENE 6 Night A Sibyl wakes from her sleep with prophetic visions. INTERMISSION ACT II SCENE 7 Four Portraits, “The Car” B drives in a lonely reverie, accompanied by the voice of her GPS. SCENE 8 The Walkers, “Retaliation and Other Spoils” Chief’s Daughter 1, begging to be cleared of the accusation that she killed Lil’ Bunchy, and perhaps to prove her innocence, sends her gang out to nd who killed Lil’ Bunchy Bates. SCENE 9 Four Portraits, “The Forest” A and B reunite in a forest, where A reads his beloved a ghost story. SCENE 10 The Walkers, “The Story of Sincere—For Black Folks, Hope Must Be Resurrected Every Day” Based on an interview of a Chicago young mother, Yasmine Miller. Yasmine shares how she copes with having lost her 20-month-old baby, Sincere, to a random bullet. Like so many other children whose lives have been cut short by gun violence, Sincere’s murderer has never been found. Synopsis continued