Dangerous Matter
An opera in one Act

About

Background

​

​Lady Mary Wortley Montagu dared to defy medical convention in 18th century, insisting her daughter be inoculated in England following an introduction to the practice in Turkey. With witnesses from the Royal Society, and Caroline, Princess of Wales present, the procedure provided evidence for the safety and efficacy of the method. Her trust in the experience of inoculators already practicing widely in Asia and Africa cemented her decision to take the doctors of the Royal Society head-on. Confronting their resistance to updating their methods, Wortley advocated for evidence-based, preventative strategies. Nearly 40 years later, a young boy from Berkley would be inoculated. Now authorised by the Royal Society, their ‘English’ method came with unfortunate continuation of damaging but profitable preparations that were not supported by the original practice or evidence. His experience would lead a young Edward Jenner to wonder if there might be a way to improve the idea, leading to the invention of the modern vaccine.

​

Dangerous Matter is an opera that explores memory in its many forms through the story of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. It looks at shared historical memory by considering who is remembered for changing the world, the personal memory that shapes identity and informs legacy, and the biological memory within the immune system, which safeguards the body by learning from past dangers. Just as Lady Mary’s unconventional approach touched countless lives and led science on a path toward vaccination, so too does the immune system remember and evolve, ensuring survival through adaptation and the interplay between our shared human biology and individual bodily experience. 

​

Edward Jenner is often credited as the ‘Father of Immunology’, but his important contribution could not have been possible without the memory of what came before, and the replication and improvement of these ideas by others. Taking one step back in our global memory of this virus and its eradication, we begin to see the trail of these memories, passed by women and men, by high status and none, dating back to the first known version of inoculation practiced in Ancient China. Whether by leap or step, each move has mattered.

​

Smallpox was declared eradicated in 1980, marking one of the greatest collaborative human achievements, spanning continents and centuries. With a death toll believed to be in the billions, no-one was safe from this deadly virus that was responsible the decimation of native populations globally, and the end of royal lines. Our collective fight against this virus led to not only the invention of the vaccine, but to needle technology advancements, development of identification and containment strategies and more. Smallpox remains the only deadly human virus ever eradicated.