'Death Trip': Crying Over Spilt Blood In Dairyland

People ran amok in 1890s Wisconsin -- committing murder, suicide, arson, etc. -- for reasons that aren't wholly made clear in the intriguing new chamber opera "Wisconsin Death Trip" at Georgetown University. Impressively performed by students, this world premiere is a mournful but thin tissue of despair, based on Michael Lesy's 1973 history.

The subject certainly has creepy appeal, which Jeff Berkson's music captures in what could be called high hillbilly style. It's not a far cry from the backwoods idiom of the Adam Guettel musical "Floyd Collins." The young singers sound more gutsy and folksy than classical, though the percussive, often lovely (if gloomy) score cuts both ways.

"I'm in this trailer park, and it's nearly midnight," croons a lonely man, wandering near a campfire and gazing at the stars. His anguish calls forth a chorus of the 19th century undead from Dan Conway's set of tall, treelike columns, upon which vintage photos are often projected.

It's a striking beginning, and the 70-minute show has moments of real pull as this unhappy group sings. Berkson is at home with reflective country ballads and foot-stomping gospel rhythms, but the dominant musical tone is bereavement and puzzlement. What happened?

Berkson and his co-lyricist, director Tim Raphael, don't treat the phenomenon as a mystery to be solved or ever deeply explored. It's something from which to tease out a mood. Few individuals step forward to much effect, and the ensemble-driven show is never better than in the beginning. At least as of the first performance, the absorbing weirdness of the basic premise isn't really deepened.

Perhaps Berkson and Raphael will sharpen the particulars of time and place, bringing a little more journalism to bear (who? how? why?). The theatrics have certainly been seen to: Debra Kim Sevigny's costumes echo what's often seen in the old photos, and Robbie Hayes's light casts a ghostly glow that's in tune with Berkson's haunting refrains.

Wisconsin Death Trip. Music by Jeff Berkson, lyrics by Berkson and Tim Raphael. Directed by Raphael. Choreography, Nadine George-Graves; music director, C. Paul Heins. Through Feb. 9 at Georgetown University's Gonda Theatre. Call 202-687-ARTS or visit http://performingarts.georgetown.edu.