Bird twittering instead of revenge

Saturday 6 December kicks off the first edition of the Musical theatre days, the successor to the annual Babel Festival. To showcase the work of young creators, the Ostadetheatre and production core Diamond factory join forces again, for a programme that offers flash performances by conservatory students alongside world premieres by professional creators. The monthly Salon of Splendor will take place at the Ostada Theatre. The common thread in this first edition is "the utopias and dreams of the 1960s and 1970s, held up to a new light by the makers".

The festival opens on 6 December with Sisters, a new work by composer Anna Mikhailova and librettist/director Isabel Schröder. Mikhailova created the one-act two years ago for the Babelfestival Black Perfume, based on a story by Mikhail Bulgakov. Sisters  is inspired by the Greek myth of Philomèla, the Athenian king's daughter who is raped by her brother-in-law Tereus, and together with her sister Proknè takes gruesome revenge: they feed him his little son Itys. When he discovers what happened, Tereus sets off in pursuit, after which all three turn into birds.

Sisters opens strongly. Three men and two women storm onto the stage and freeze in a decided pose, all the while looking straight into the audience. Tereus (the actor Fabian Holle), adorned with black pleated skirt and berevel stands in the centre; the bright-red-clad Philomèla (the mezzo-soprano Merlijn Runia) sits on the far right; her sister Proknè (mezzo-soprano Antje Lohse), clad in a bright blue dress, on the far left. Drummer Robbert van Hulzen and saxophonist Stefan de Wijs - also in black - are on Proknè's side.

The opening music is also overpowering. An electronic rattle rolling in from nowhere is imperceptibly taken over by the five performers: they produce a low growling vocal with trembling tongues, beating drums (the men), or clacking their heels (the women). Gradually, the noise becomes deafening. Then we hear a raucous battle cry, uttered by Itys (Bettino Weisser), placated in the audience. This is followed by minutes of bellicose exclamations, scanned in a house rhythm: 'I went to war and I killed Floran!' It is clear: this is not going to end well.

In the scenes that follow, we see the two sisters uninhibitedly playing hide-and-seek, swinging, or scanning their surroundings through the game 'your hands are your eyes'. Meanwhile, they drum atmospheric sounds on white cubes scattered across the stage. Sometimes they sing lyrical arias, which are easy to understand due to the reciting style of writing. Often, too, they tell the story eloquently, stepping briefly out of the action, as the chorus does in classical Greek tragedies. Tereus also switches between an acting to a contemplative character, which does not come across as contrived for a moment.

This is sparingly coloured by melodic, then raw outbursts from the saxophonist and ditto percussion. Beautiful are the moments when the percussionist evokes arcadian atmospheres by gently tinkling cups placed on the ground. Also atmospheric are the woodwind electronic instruments, played mainly by the two sisters, which miraculously produce archaic rather than modern sounds.

Impressive is the concentration and commitment with which the performers perform their roles. Lohse and Runia in particular nail you to your seat with their lived-in acting. Holle is a very fearsome Tereus, but loses momentum because of his poor pronunciation of English. Saxophonist De Wijs has yet to learn to move on a stage, as does the young Weisser. Too bad too that the rape scene looks like Tereus and Philomèla are playing an innocent game. The penny only drops when she utters her lament, but this is literally breathtaking: the gagging guttural sounds emitted by Runia make it almost palpable that Tereus has cut off Philomèla's tongue and make you involuntarily reach for your throat.

The moment when the two sisters decide to take revenge remains somewhat in limbo, but gripping is the ending, in which Philomèla, Proknè and Tereus turn into birds. Crouched on a cube, they stare at the sky, while from suitcase gramophones cheerful bird chirping links. Tereus' revenge seems to have been averted by the gods. Although it is not entirely clear how their piece fits into the theme of the Music Theatre Days and the performance needs some fine-tuning, Mikhailova and Schröder manage with Sisters definitely strikes a chord.

Sisters can still be seen until Tuesday 9 December.
Anna Mikhailova and Isabel Schröder: Sisters; Antje Lohse and Merlijn Runia, mezzo-soprano; Fabian Holle, actor; Bettino Weisser, vocals; Stefan de Wijs, saxophones; Robbert van Hulzen, percussion; Judith de Zwart, costumes; Loek Vellekoop & Phonophilia, el. instruments; Jose Warmerdam, lighting design; Sybren Danz, sound design.