CULTURELAND OPERA COLLECTIVE
Dr. Afarin Mansouri, Composer
Dr. Jennifer Wise, Librettist
Liza Balkan, Director
Bradley Christensen, Pelasgus

“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.

The Refugees depicts a family of sisters fleeing violence at home, and urgently seeking refugee status in a nearby democracy (as occurred many times a day on the beaches of Lesbos and elsewhere in Greece during the Syrian refugee crisis of 2015). 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’ defence, 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.”

*Description of the opera provided by the Cultureland Opera Collective.