What does it mean to make opera as a collective? And what does it mean to do so in an inclusive way? In collaboration with De Nationale Opera, Asko|Schönberg is freeing up space for experimentation, both on stage and in the rehearsal studio. That space is for research into new forms of work with a collective character. From this collaboration comes in the opera I have missed you forever forth to be seen at the Opera Forward Festival 2022.
About the opera
In a theatre, different people gather for a memorial service. As with any funeral, everyone has a different memory, image or idea of the person they are remembering. The one who died led many lives and carried many, unseen histories with him or her. And slowly, multiple voices are echoing to tell their stories. Voices of people who have been outcast, persecuted or forgotten. Yet here they are, alive and kicking. They form a procession of stories, speeches and music: all different in nature and time, but now moving as one, united.
Special working method
A collective of performers, writers and composers based in different disciplines and backgrounds worked intensively together. By sharing stories among themselves, teaching each other songs and movements and exchanging skills in workshops and through online channels, the groundwork was laid for this production. The maker team gave their ideas to the performers, who in turn came up with a plethora of visions and creations.
All this comes together in a final pressure cooker assembly and rehearsal period leading to the performances at ITA. There, the audience will surround the performers, and in turn be surrounded by rituals of mourning and joy, accompanied by a dog as everyone's best friend, as guide, protector and connector.
Performances
12 (premiere), 13, 15, 17 and 18 March, 8pm
International Theatre Amsterdam
Info & Tickets: I have missed you forever - Opera Forward Festival - Asko Schoenberg (askoschoenberg.nl)
Credits
concept & creation:
Lisenka Heijboer Castañón, Manoj Kamps, Antonio Cuenca Ruiz, Sarah Sluimer, Pete Harden, Carmen Schabracq, Eddy van der Laan, Hendrik Walther
music:
Pete Harden, Ethan Braun, Rick van Veldhuizen, Sarah Hennies, Lingbo Ma
text:
Sarah Sluimer, Alma Mathijsen, Romana Vrede, Olivier Willemsen, Esther Mugambi
musicians, singers, dancers, performers :
Chloë Abbott, Marc Alberto, Berima Amo, Jonathan Bonny, Katharine Dain, Reinaldo Donoso, Efe Erdem, Aktas Erdogan, Gil Gomes Leal, Manoj Kamps, Yung-Tuan Ku, Luciana Mancini, Marta Miller, Esther Mugambi, Wilco Oomkes, Stephanie Pan, Edu Rojas, Maciej Straburzynski, Thora Sveinsdóttir, Cody Takács, Patrick Votrian
Production The National Opera in co-production with Asko|Schönberg.