music and lyrics Rokia Traoré
directed by Peter Sellars
with Tina Benko e Rokia Traoré
musicians Mamah Diabaté, Mamadyba Camara
choir Fatim Kouyaté, Bintou Soumbounou
lights James F. Ingalls
sound Alexis Giraud
commissioned and co-produced by Wiener Festwochen, Théâtre Nanterre-Amandiers, Cal Performances – Berkeley – California, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts – New York, spielzeit’europa | Berliner Festspiele, Barbican – London, Arts Council Festival, London 2012 Festival
World premiere
Language inglese con sottotitoli in italiano
Country Stati Uniti/Mali/Inghilterra/Germania/Austria/Francia
running time: 2h
Venue Teatro Mercadante
Dates
18/06/2013 ore 20:00
19/06/2013 ore 20:00
Peter Sellars, which has assets of more than a hundred productions, including theater, opera, film and television, is known for his productions of classics in a totally unconventional view, for his interest in experimenting with new languages and a passion for Eastern theater techniques. The performance he will stage at the Festival is a collaboration between the African-American writer Toni Morrison and the Malian singer Rokia Traoré. Taking a cue from the end of Act IV of Othello, Sellars brings to the stage an imaginary dialogue between Desdemona and her nurse, the “Barbary” who in Elizabethan English indicated Africa that Shakespeare has never known.
The performance – met with great success on the most important international venues, including Los Angeles, New York, Paris – is thus presented as a journey across continents and cultures: in the center of the scene, the recited word of Desdemona meets the voice of Rokia Traoré, wrapped in the sound of her choir of African women, will give rise to a major theatrical-musical ritual.
