The Golden Stool, or the story of Nana Yaa Asantewaa

LOD & Toneelhuis / Gorges Ocloo
Thu 27 Apr - Sun 26 Nov
27 Apr
-
26 Nov

An AfrOpera by Gorges Ocloo

Who is Nana Yaa Asantewaa? Why was she important? And what is her legacy? 

Around 1900, she led the resistance against the troops of the British Monarch as an old woman and, together with the women’s brigade she formed, held out for a year in the war for the Golden Stool, the throne and pride of the Asante people in Ghana. The British had been slaughtering the Asante to gain access to timber, gold and cocoa for years. The industrial revolution in faraway England required resources, many resources, like a hungry beast. For Nana Yaa Asantewaa and her women, the British Monarch’s claiming of the Golden Stool was the last straw. The Golden Stool would not leave the country! 

Nobulumko Mngxekeza-Nziramasanga (soprano), Nonkululeko Nkwinti (mezzo-soprano), Doris Bokongo Nkumu, Nathalie Bokongo Nkumu, Abena Biney Gloria, Titilayo Oliha, Saar-Niragire De Groof, Briana Stuart, Maïmouna Badjie and Somalia Williamson sing, act and dance the story of Nana Yaa Asantewaa and her courageous struggle, to the sounds of famous arias from the classical Western opera repertoire – which Gorges Ocloo has appropriated for the occasion. Handel, Bizet, Shostakovich, Verdi, Vivaldi, Beethoven, Orff... they all pass in revue. With this AfrOpera, Gorges Ocloo reveals his roots.

 

 

 

 

Credits

LOD & Toneelhuis / Gorges Ocloo
The Golden Stool, the story of Nana Yaa Asantewaa 

concept, direction, libretto, composition, set design & costumes Gorges Ocloo 
soprano Nobulumko Mngxekeza-Nziramasanga 
mezzosoprano Nonkululeko Nkwinti 
choir, dance & percussion Doris Bokongo Nkumu, Nathalie Bokongo Nkumu, Gloria Abena Biney, Titilayo Oliha, Saar-Niragire De Groof, Briana Stuart, Maïmouna Badjie & Somalia Williamson 
advice choir composition & choir master Joris Minten 
co-libretto & dramaturgy 
Josse De Pauw 
musical advice Katherina Lindekens 
assistant director Chiara Monteverde 
costume design Kasia Mielczarek
realision set & costumes Atelier Toneelhuis
light Pino Etz & Gilles Roosen 
sound Victor Hidaldo 
video technics Wim Piqueur 
video recordings Gorges Ocloo
audio recordings Isa Tubbax
production manager Eva De Wolf  & Noor De Graaf
production LOD muziektheater & Toneelhuis 
coproduction Opera Ballet Vlaanderen & O. Festival Rotterdam
with the support of enoa & the Creative Europe Programme, the tax shelter measure by the belgian federal gouvernment
tax shelter partner Flanders tax shelter
with thanks to Lukas Vanhoutte, Naomi Lampariello, Peter King, Wilhelmina Donkoh, The Queen Mother of Ejisu, The Women Commission Office of the Koforidua Technical University