“We take prisons for granted but are often afraid to face the realities they produce. After all, no one wants to go to prison. Because it would be too agonizing to cope with the possibility that anyone, including ourselves, could become a prisoner, we tend to think of the prison as disconnected from our own lives.”
Barzakh
Opera Ballet Vlaanderen / 2024
Concept and Text Thomas Bellinck, in collaboration with people detained at the prisons of Antwerp, Beveren, Bruges, Ghent, Hoogstraten, Lantin, Turnhout Composition Osama Abdulrasol Conductor Zoe Zeniodi Direction Thomas Bellinck Pictures Laura Van Severen Scenography and lighting design Zaza Dupont, Bart Van Merode, in collaboration with Students of La Cambre Costume design Rida Habib Allah Video design Léna Iloo Orchestration Jasper Charlet, Milo Paulus van Binnendijk, Miguel Maria Pestana de Vasconcelos, Hans Vercauteren Dramaturgy Maarten Boussery, Esther Severi Actors Marjan De Schutter, Armin Mola, Edith Saldanha, Jeroen Van der Ven Singers Reuben Mbonambi, Katharine Dain, Nattha Thammathi, Lotte Verstaen Orchestra Symfonisch Orkest Opera Ballet Vlaanderen
© Opera Ballet Vlaanderen / Laura Van Severen
The Arabic word barzakh refers to a border space between two worlds in which deceased souls must wait in a state of sleep for a final judgment before they can travel further. It is a recognisable situation for people who are awaiting trial in pre-trial detention, as becomes apparent from conversations between them and theatre maker Thomas Bellinck. During workshops in some Belgian prisons, they write a new performance together and determine what is presented on stage. The opera repertoire serves as a starting point: in operas we often see criminal acts and incarceration in a romanticised way, but does this correspond to reality? Composer Osama Abdulrasol translates the material from the workshops into music for singers and chamber orchestra. Barzakh questions the world views that emerge from operas and takes a critical look at the prison system.
Production by Opera Ballet Vlaanderen In collaboration with De Rode Antraciet and École Nationale Supérieure des Arts de La Cambre With the support of ROBIN vzw, KASK & Conservatorium Hogent With the support of the Tax Shelter measure of the Belgian Federal Government The Young Ensemble is supported by the Friends of OBV
© Opera Ballet Vlaanderen / Laura Van Severen
