ABOUT The Refugees

Librettist: Jennifer Wise

Composer: Afarin Mansouri

Director and Dramaturg: Liza Balkan

A Large Scale Opera in 1 Act 

Based on Aeschylus’ Hikétides (c. 460 BCE), The Refugees is an uncannily contemporary opera about the rights of refugees, the duties of democratic states, and the complexities of international humanitarianism—told from the perspective of a chorus of exiled women.    

As occurred many times a day on the beaches of Lesbos and elsewhere in Greece during the Syrian refugee crisis of 2015, The Refugees depicts a family of sisters fleeing violence at home, and urgently seeking refugee status in a nearby democracy. Landing their lifeboat on a beach outside the city of Argos, they make their plea for asylum to the Argive leader, who is unable, alone, to do anything for them: unlike their homeland, this place is a democracy. (In fact Aeschylus’ original text contains our earliest known reference to the idea of “people-power,” democracy). The leader agrees to present the sisters’ case to the citizens, who vote unanimously to admit, house, and protect them. The promise of a safe haven is soon put to the test, however, as a military force arrives on shore with instructions to repatriate the women by force. The locals come to the refugees’ defense, repel the threat, and usher them safely into the city. But more violence is predicted: admission is not the end, but only the beginning of this refugee crisis.

By an outstanding creative team of multi-award-winning opera and music-theater artists, The Refugees is a powerful new intercultural opera envisioned for performance on the beach, as well as  indoor stage scored for Persian and Arabic instruments in ancient maqam modes and other traditional musical idioms of the region. 

CHARACTERS

• CHORUS OF FEMALE REFUGEES: the Danaid sisters, in headscarves or veils (four soloists, additional chorus as available)
• DANAUS: their father, the self-exiled twin brother of the king of Egypt (baritone) 
• PELASGUS, king of Argos, a Greek democratic city (bass)
• KING ASSISTANT (tenor)
• WORKMEN 1 and 2 (skilled tradesmen, later CITIZENS of ARGOS)
  EGYPTIAN ARMY COMMANDER (baritone)
  EGYPTIAN SOLDIERS 1 and 2
  CITIZENS OF ARGOS (2 soloists, 1 of them female, additional chorus as available) 

Stage of Development: 

With support from Canada Arts Council we have been able to run the first stage workshop for this opera successfully in 2023.

Currently we are planning for our second Full workshop which will be done as part of our residency wth Tapestry Opera in 2025-2026 .

We are hoping to find partners to  co-produce this opera.