WOMAN AT POINT ZERO: WINNER MUSIC THEATRE NOW COMPETITION 2023

The Music Theatre Now Competition’s jury has selected LOD-production Woman at Point Zero by director Laila Soliman, composer Bushra El-Turk & librettist Stacy Hardy as one of the six exceptional projects that reflect the evolving landscape of contemporary music. Woman at Point Zero has been praised by Music Theatre Now for the way the piece fuses Arab and Western musical traditions in a moving feminist story.

The opera is inspired by the novel of the same name by Egyptian writer and feminist Nawal El Saadawi.  The opera tells the story of two women who meet for one day in prison: Fatma, a self-made feminist and activist convicted of manslaughter, and Sama, a young ambitious documentary filmmaker who wants to tell Fatma's story. They share their memories, experiences and deepest secrets. Initially, there is a lot of mistrust between the two women, but soon curiosity and solidarity gain the upper hand, to culminate in an intense friendship. What does it mean to be a woman? How does it feel to be liberated? Can you be freer in prison than outside?