`This House’ makes world premiere, exploring Black history through a family’s legacy in Harlem
June 3, 2025
“This House,” a rumination on love, aspiration, coping and the unyielding weight of history, made its world premiere Saturday night at the Opera Theatre of St. Louis. The work was composed by Ricky Ian Gordon to a libretto by two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage and her daughter Ruby Aiyo Gerber. It weaves impacts of the Civil War, Great Migration, Black Power movement, AIDS crisis and gentrification. There are five more performances through June 29. Gerber, 27, started “This House” in 2020, during her senior year at Brown.
