A ritual with the opera Ayamé by Kōsaku Yamada
Adaption. Premiere on August 1, 2020. Until August 16, 2020.
When we discovered the one-act Ayamé, the word pandemic was one of many in most people’s passive vocabulary. When Vincent Stefan and his team developed their concept for this wonderful opera trouvaille – never before performed in Europe – Corona was at best understood as a brand of beer. And when director Fabian Gerhardt began rehearsals in January 2019 and explored the idea of a ritualistic play by three young people locked in ice-cold isolation, no one could have guessed what experiences and feelings they would all bring to the opening of the season in summer 2020.
How peculiar, that this one-act opera from 1931 is the first production under Corona-related rules of play and hygiene – this wonderful music oscillating between Debussy, Richard Strauss and Japanese sounds to the drama of the girl Ayamé (Yuri Mizobuchi), who works as a prostitute to pay off the debts of her deceased father. When all the advice of an obscure friend (Martin Gerke) and all attempts to escape fail, they decide on a ritualistic and originally Japanese way out…
Our production from last year asked about the right of self-determination of life and body, about the possibilities of closeness, intimacy and freedom – now we play and experience this story, even more clearly set at a distance, under rituals that affect us all.
Musical arrangement and direction: Markus Syperek | Concept: Vincent Stefan | Production: Fabian Gerhardt | Stage: Sabrina Rossetto | Costume: Rebekka Dornhege Reyes | Videos: Florian Japp, Vincent Stefan | Dramaturgy: Bernhard Glocksin | Keyboard instruments: Markus Syperek | Violoncello: Lorraine Buzea | Saxophones: Ruth Velten
With Yuri Mizobuchi, Daniel Arnaldos, Martin Gerke
Photos: (c) Matthias Heyde
Title photo by Vincent Stefan