Het meisje, de jager en de wolf campagnebeeld
Photo: Michiel Spijkers

5 reasons to look forward to…The Girl, the Hunter and the Wolf

11 October 2022

1. An opera for kids

Dutch National Opera makes musical theatre for everyone. This includes children (and their families). This season’s programme will feature a number of operas aimed at children: in addition to The Girl, the Hunter and the Wolf (6+), DNO is presenting Lucas Wiegerink’s new opera Het Lijflied (5+) and Be Opera XL (6+), a musical play with arias by various composers.

2. Fairytale characters, with a twist

In The Girl, the Hunter and the Wolf, reality turns out to be a lot more complex than fairy tales would have us believe. In the story, as conceived by librettist Gonçalo Tavares, the hungry wolf is on the run from two hunters. He meets Little Red Riding Hood, who forms a bond with him and tries to help.

3. Vasco Mendonça

The Portuguese composer Vasco Mendonça has written extensively for both opera and musical theatre. With his compositional style, he is a master at evoking a variety of moods and repressed tensions. His first opera, The House Taken Over, had its premiere at the prestigious Aix-en-Provence Festival. This opera weaves a gloomy tale of a brother and a sister who live together in a house and never venture outside. In this suffocating environment they cling to their habits and rituals.

4. Inne Goris

In her work Flemish theatre director Inne Goris actively seeks to reveal what is normally hidden. The result: idiosyncratic productions that bring together visual art, theatre and dance. She has a great affinity for the experiences of children and young people. In her most recent project, Ophelia, she immersed the audience in the emotional world of 12 young ‘Ophelias’ and their perspective on love.

5. Different facets of life

The Girl, the Hunter and the Wolf does not shy away from heavy themes. Inne Goris has this to say about that: ‘As a child you go through a lot: your cat dies, your grandmother dies, you get into a row with someone at school – you name it. Ugly, dark things happen; that’s just life. And you’re not doing children any favours by omitting things like that from your show.’

  • The Girl, the Hunter and the Wolf will run from 15 to 23 October at Dutch National Opera.
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