It’s arguable whether Robert Ashley’s 1998 opera “Dust,” scored for solo voices, prerecorded orchestra, and electronics, is a masterpiece of opera—but it is certainly a masterpiece of political art in its evocation of empathy for marginalized people. During the 90 minute work, we hear the conversations and monologues of a cast of five homeless characters, based on the New York City homeless people whom Ashley observed in a park near his apartment during the 1980s and 1990s. (After budget cuts for homeless shelters by Ronald Reagan, “The Great Communicator,” many homeless people were forced into the streets.) Ashley, who himself inhabited the frequent failures of communication associated with his Tourette’s Syndrome, was fascinated by “the problem of communication” he observed in the park. In “Dust,” he gives voice to those who usually remain invisible—not only unseen, but unheard.
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