Opera Notwehr at La Biennale di Venezia 2022 in the Scuola Grande di San Rocco. It was a joy to work on the Costume Design for this beautiful piece with Kim Jansen.

Composer: Annelies van Parys
Libretto: Gaea Schoeters
Direction: Sjaron Minailo
Soloists: Els Mondelaers and Johanna Zimmer
Costume design: Patricia Hofstede

Light Design: Maarten Warmerdam
A production of: Hermes Ensemble , Muziektheater Transparant, Studio Minailo and Venice Biennale

Description NOTWEHR;

Dedicated to Maria Kalesnikava and all other brave women who lost their freedom fighting for a better world.
What is freedom? And what are you willing to sacrifice it for?

During an illegal protest action, a young activist is arrested. She is locked up for the night together with an older barmaid, who’s been accused of killing her husband. The two women unwillingly share the small prison cell: their forced togetherness starts out on a tense note, but as time passes they open up to each other. First reluctantly and uneasily, then more intimately, they share their fears and hopes.
Composer Annelies Van Parys’ music enters into dialogue with the Banchieri madrigals, as librettist Gaea Schoeters weaves the old texts into the new libretto and the vocal ensemble paints a picture of the events that led up to incarceration of both women. The two soloists share their thoughts and feelings not only with each other, but also with the audience, as they comment on their own situation — thus turning Notwehr into a performance that is both playful and touching, light and dark.