Bushra El-Turk: Woman at Point Zero
Credits:
LOD / Laila Soliman, Bushra El-Turk & Stacy Hardy: Woman at Point Zero
composition Bushra El-Turk direction Laila Soliman libretto Stacy Hardy text based on Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi published by Zed Books- Bloomsbury Publishing Plc scenography Bissane Al Charif video design Bissane Al Charif & Julia König director’s assistant Barbara T’Jonck & Nadia Amin composer’s assistant Furkan Keçeli documentary audio fragments Aida Elkashef musical direction Kanako Abe assistant musical director Ivan Cheng singers Dima Orsho & Carla Nahadi Babelegoto ensemble ZAR: Hyelim Kim (taegum), Milos Milivojevic (accordéon), Raphaela Danksagmuller (recorders, fujara, duduk, kaval), Chatori Shimizu (sho), Faraz Eshghi Sahraei (kamancha), Hanna Kölbel / Tamaki Sugimoto (cello) repetitor & live samples Samir Bendimered costumes Eli Verkeyn stage manager Patrick Vanderhaegen light design Loes Schakenbos video Johannes Ringoot / Brecht Debackere light Jamy Hollebeke sound Carlo Thompson / Guillaume Desmet production manager Liesbet Termont production LOD muziektheater coproduction All Aria’s festival (deSingel Antwerpen, Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, Concertgebouw Brugge & Transparant), Royal Opera House London, Shubbak Festival London, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Britten Pears Arts & Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg) with thanks to Kathleen Venneman & Victor Hidalgo with the support of enoa (European Network of Opera Academies), PRS Foundation, FEDORA, AFAC (The Arab Fund for Art and Culture), the British Council & the TAX Shelter Measure by the Belgian federal government tax shelter partner Flanders TAX Shelter
with special thanks to Mariem Abutaleb, Joel Bell, Nawal El Saadawi, Nedjma Elhadj, Shady Elhusseiny, Michael Elisson, Victor Hidalgo, Rebecca Merritt, Ahmed Saaty, David Sawyer, Kathleen Venneman, Peter Wiegold, Kate Wyatt & Ruth Wyner
In co-operation with:
Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation
Age recommendation: 13+
Language: English and Arabic, surtitles in Finnish and English
Post-performance discussion Aug 29 at approximately 9:00 PM in the Almi Hall lobby.
Composer Bushra El-Turk and Noora Ahmed-Moshe will take part in the discussion.
Composer’s note:
“The theme of imprisonment has long captivated my personal and artistic pursuits. As a Londoner raised by Lebanese parents, I keenly felt the weight of Middle Eastern traditions and societal expectations. In response, I harnessed my experiences to challenge these constraints through my art, infusing narratives and theatrical elements to champion a spirit of activism.
My artistic vision melds disparate elements into a congruous whole. Rather than embracing a binary view, I perceive composition and improvisation, fiction and reality, spoken word and song, musical gestures and movements, and the interplay between the East and the West as points along a continuum. This perspective empowers my work to overcome the limitations imposed by each element and fosters a critical inquiry. In the realm of music theatre and opera, such lines dissolve into insignificance through the collaboration with kindred spirits on similar artistic quests.
The universal nature of the narrative and themes in Woman at Point Zero resonates throughout the opera, employing a cyclical structure. Loss, violence, the erosion of innocence, joy, dreams, security, trust, friendship, pleasure, love, independence, and freedom find expression in melodic themes, modal journeys and harmonies.
Ensemble Zar, the cross-genre ensemble accompanying the opera, are our artistic playground, uniting diverse instruments from various cultures. Persian kamanche, Japanese sho, Korean daegeums, a cello, and accordion converge, symbolising the interconnectedness of cultures and the global dimensions of local challenges. Similarly, the two vocalists portraying Fatma and Sama seamlessly traverse traditional Arabic, operatic and jazz styles. I am questioning what is perceived as fixed or fluid, fostering freedom within both written and improvised sections. My aim is to give voice to musicians who are rebels within their own traditions. Each player brings their own sense of improvisation, use of traditional modalities and melodic structures, but borrowing from my language and working within my structure. Their musical language speaks to my own, and we find a meeting point. “
– Bushra El-Turk