Singers, dancers and a massive orchestra bring Philip Glass's gripping late masterpiece to the stage
In January 2027, Philip Glass turns ninety — a milestone being celebrated worldwide with concerts, operas and festivals. Nederlandse Reisopera joins forces with Club Guy & Roni and the Noord Nederlands Orkest to present Waiting for the Barbarians: a theatrical explosion in which singers, dancers and a massive orchestra perform Glass’s late masterpiece.
The opera is based on the Nobel Prize-winning novel by J.M. Coetzee, set in a nameless borderland of an empire consumed by fear of an external threat — the so-called barbarians. At its centre is a magistrate who is at first loyal to the system, but begins to question his allegiance when confronted with violence and propaganda. Waiting for the Barbariansis about ‘us’ and ‘them’, about fear of the other, abuse of power, disinformation, and how individuals hold their ground within a repressive system. With an international top-tier cast and the fierce young talents of our Poetic Disasters Club, all the ingredients are in place for an overwhelming theatre experience.
NB: Sung in English, with Dutch and English surtitles.
Credits
Music: Philip Glass | libretto: Christopher Hampton, based on the novel by J.M. Coetzee | musical director: Alice Farnham | direction: Guy Weizman | choreography: Roni Haver | with: Dan D’Souza, Charlotte Hellekant, Joe Chalmers, Lilian Farahani, Tinka Pypker, Taylor Burgess, Fabian Homburg, Román Bordón, Sander de Jong, Wessel Wirken and Aimee Kearney | dance: Nora Monsecour and Poetic Disasters Club (junior company Club Guy & Roni) | set design: Ascon de Nijs | video design: Luthfi Riadi | costume design: Elke von Sivers | lighting design: Maarten van Rossem | choir: Consensus Vocalis | live music: Noord Nederlands Orkest