Dutch National Opera

We Are The Lucky Ones

Philip Venables / Ted Huffman / Nina Segal

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Dates

14-30 March 2025

Location

Dutch National Opera & Ballet, Main Stage

Running time

TBA

Tickets

From € 16

Multi-voiced portrait of a generation

We Are The Lucky Ones tells the story of a generation. It is based on interviews with more than seventy people in Western Europe who were born between 1940 and 1949. It is the story of people who started out with little, who experienced ever-improving living standards and are now leaving behind a world where such growth is no longer sustainable. Their memories form a collective time capsule of the past eighty years, told as one continuous life story in music theatre form. Following individual experiences and societal changes over the decades, the opera raises crucial questions about the relationship between the private and the political, the impact of our choices and what truly matters in the end.

Multi-voiced portrait of a generation

Successful duo

We Are The Lucky Ones is composer Philip Venables and director Ted Huffman’s fourth music theatre collaboration, their first orchestral opera and their first collaboration with playwright Segal. The duo’s chamber opera Denis & Katya, a reconstruction of the tragic fate of two real-life Russian teenagers compiled from various perspectives, was a hit at the 2022 Opera Forward Festival. Their latest collaboration, The Faggots and their Friends between Revolutions, an adaptation of Larry Mitchell’s queer fairy tale, received rave reviews upon its premiere at the Festival d’Aix-en Provence and is included in the programming of the 2024 Holland Festival.

Bassem Akiki

The conductor for this work is Bassem Akiki, who previously demonstrated his significant talents as an interpreter of new music with the world premiere of Alexander Raskatov’s Animal Farm. With the adventurous Residentie Orkest and a cast of singers of the highest calibre, We Are The Lucky Ones has all the ingredients of a world premiere to eagerly look forward to.

Performance information

Sung in English

Composition Philip Venables
Libretto Nina Segal and Ted Huffman

Musical direction Bassem Akiki
Stage direction and set design Ted Huffman
Costume design Ted Huffman, Sonoko Kamimura
Lighting design Bertrand Couderc
Movement Pim Veulings
Dramaturgy Nina Segal, Laura Roling

One Claron McFadden
Two Jacquelyn Stucker
Three Nina van Essen
Four Helena Rasker
Five Miles Mykkanen
Six Frederick Ballentine
Seven Germán Olvera
Eight Alex Rosen

Residentie Orkest

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Youth aged 35 and under can attend this performance for only € 25,00 (including booking fee), regardless of which price category is ordered.

Ticket prices

We provide discounts tailored for certain groups to ensure our performances are accessible to all. Please visit this page to determine if you qualify for a discount.

Price category	Standard	OFF youth tickets (aged 35 and under)	CJP \| City Pass \| Youth aged 16 and under
1^st	€ 109,00	€ 23,00	€ 99,00
2^nd	€ 95,00	€ 23,00	€ 85,00
3^rd	€ 77,00	€ 23,00	€ 67,00
4^th	€ 56,00	€ 23,00	€ 46,00
5^th	€ 29,00	€ 23,00	€ 27,00
6^th	€ 16,00	€ 23,00	€ 15,00

Dutch National Opera & Ballet uses a system of dynamic pricing. This means that tickets for popular performances may increase in price as the performance date approaches and more tickets are sold. All prices exclude the booking fee (€ 2 per ticket).

Student discount and student alert

Last-minute deal! When a performance isn’t sold out, students can purchase a ticket online for just € 19 on the day of the performance starting from 13:00.

To stay updated on more offers, sign up for our student alert. This way, you’ll be informed in advance about which performances you can attend for just € 19!

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“An interesting wedge has developed between the generations”

Philip Venables, Nina Segal and Ted Huffman on We Are The Lucky Ones.

Read the full article

Residentie Orkest The Hague

The Residentie Orkest is one of the great symphony orchestras of the Netherlands with a rich history – it celebrates its 120th anniversary in 2024. This innovative orchestra, with chief conductor Anja Bihlmaier at the helm, plays at leading venues in the Netherlands and abroad in addition to its home venue Amare in The Hague. The Residentie Orkest has previously performed in new productions such as Blue and Innocence at Dutch National Opera. Season 2024-2025, the orchestra will be playing in the world premiere of Philip Venables’ new opera We Are The Lucky Ones.

residentieorkest.nl

Introduction

An introduction offering background information to enhance your theatre experience will take place 45 minutes before the performance. The introductions, held in Dutch, are free and require no reservation—simply present your ticket. They are held in the Souterrain.