'You're In The Midst Of This Terrible Story:' 'The Handmaid's Tale' Imagined As An Opera

The Boston Lyric Opera is staging the East Coast premiere of "The Handmaid's Tale" as an opera. Just like the hit Hulu series, it's based on Margaret Atwood's 1985 novel by the same name — but the opera was written decades before the TV series.

Atwood's novel imagined a totalitarian future state, in which most women are infertile and the few who can bear children are forced into sexual servitude as handmaids to powerful men.

When Atwood envisioned the setting of her dystopia, she pictured Cambridge, Mass. That makes the local production on Harvard's campus a homecoming for the story.

The Handmaid's Tale opera will be playing at the Lavietes Pavilion through May 12. Read more about the production from WBUR's Artery here. 

Esther Nelson, artistic director and general director for the Boston Lyric Opera, which tweets @bostlyricopera.

Poul Ruders, Grammy-nominated composer.