Maybe it’s only in LA, though. “Enhanced reading” to be staged on 5 March.

THE TREE, a new opera by PETER WING HEALEY

Synopsis: The spirit of a centuries-old oak tree on a ridge outside a small town falls in love with a poetic young man from the town.� She comes out of her tree and marries him when his first marriage falls apart.� They move to the big city where he will pursue his dream of becoming an architect.� His ex-wife, taking custody of their son, marries again, this time to a local developer.� When, years later, the developer decides to build a mall outside the now growing town it becomes clear that he plans to cut down the old tree.� The town is instantly polarized and the son joins with a band of tree-sitters to protest the construction.� The architect and the tree spirit watch helplessly as the situation deteriorates.� When the tree is finally felled she dies but in the process he receives the gift of a vision that will enable him to transform the world.

An exciting, contemporary re-telling of an ancient Shinto myth combined with the story of today�s struggle to save our old-growth forests and stop the sprawl.�� Tying together themes being addressed by a broad world movement chrystalising around such organizations as Smart Growth and Congress for a New Urbanism, The Tree attempts to sing about the unthinkable � can there be life without cars?