A&E: Scorned women on stages at IU and Fountain Square
Perhaps the most performed American opera, “Susannah” tells of a good woman brought down by the hypocrisy of her Appalachian town. Spotted bathing nude in a creek by townspeople looking for a spot for revival meeting baptisms, the parentless 19-year-old’s reputation and spirit are soon destroyed by gossip-and the visiting preacher. It’s an opera with sex (implied), death (thanks to an angry brother), religion (including a revival service) and-something you don’t see in many operas-square dancing. What it also has…