Woman at point zero
Bushra El-Turk
September 15th 2023 · 7.30 pm
Teatre Martín i Soler
WOMAN AT POINT ZERO
Bushra El-TurkA multimedia opera
Libretto by Stacy Hardy after the eponymous novel by Nawal El Saadawi
Freedom as a final destination
Inspired by the story of the Egyptian writer Nawal El Saadawi, Laila Soliman constructs dialogue covering one day between two women with very different lives, but who share a common yearning for freedom. One of them fights to maintain it, to extend it based on a self-aware feminism. The other has lost her freedom before she wins it in her fight against abuse by the men in her life. Now in jail, an idea begins to form in her reflexions: can one be free while in jail?
Four women – the composer, librettist, conductor and stage director – have created this "fascinating" (The Guardian) and “eloquent” (Le Figaro) multimedia opera, winner of the 2020 Fedora-Generali Prize, on the issue of freedom and women's rights. Presenting an emotional and dramatic dialogue between two girls, to whom Dima Orsho and Carla Nahadi Babelegoto lend their voices, the British composer of Lebanese origin Bushra El-Turk brings together the musical traditions of West and East in a very particular combination of ancient instruments, such as the accordion, the crumhor, the Japanese shō and the Korean daegeum, played by a sextet of musicians from different parts of the world.
With the collaboration of Festival ENSEMS
Creative Team
Conductor
Kanako Abe
Stage director
Laila Soliman
Set Designer and Video Designer
Bissane Al Charif & Julia König
Costume designer
Eli Verkeyn
Lighting Designer
Loes Schakenbosc
Cast
Fatma
Dima Orsho
Sama
Carla Nahadi Babelegoto
Ensemble Zar
A production by LOD muziektheater, All Aria’s festival (deSingel Antwerpen, Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, Concertgebouw Brugge & Transparant), Royal Opera House London, Shubbak Festival, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Snape Maltings and Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg
