Awakenings

ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI: Based on the true story of Dr. Oliver Sacks, “Awakenings” is a story of memories, loss, and life rediscovered.

“Awakenings” is the account of a group of patients who contracted sleeping-sickness during the great epidemic just after World War I. Frozen in a decades-long sleep, these people were given up as hopeless until 1969, when Dr. Sacks gave them the then-new drug L-DOPA, which had an astonishing, explosive, “awakening” effect.

Opera Theatre of Saint Louis commissioned “Awakenings” as an opera for its 2020 season, but that production was delayed due to the pandemic.

Composed by Tobias Picker, with libretto by Aryeh Lev Stollman, the world premiere of “Awakenings” will be staged Jun. 5–24, 2022.