Yemandja
Breathtaking musical theatre about love, betrayal and the injustices of slavery
Drawing inspiration from her ancestors, her family and Africa’s resilience, singer Angélique Kidjo tells a story that is a wake-up call to her audience.
Festival Holland Festival
Run time 90 minutes
Genre Music Theatre
Language English
Surtitles Dutch
Meet the Artist Fri June 17
In a 19th-century West-African village where slavery is in full swing, the young woman Omonlola receives a god-given gift in secret. Yemandja, the spirit of water and fertility, gives her the power to change the world through music. However, this power is only effective when her heart is pure. When a Brazilian slave trader makes a deal with the local king and kills or enslaves the people around Omonlola, a desire for revenge threatens to outweigh her positive strengths. -|- Yemandja is a combination of family drama and historical thriller, and is drenched in themes like love, betrayal, honour, free will and the horrors and injustices of slavery. The piece shows what happens when people are robbed of their culture. Kerry James Marshall, one of the great visual artists of our time, designed the astonishing set.
Meet the Artist
Following the performance June 17 there will be a talk led by Dorothey Blokland with Beatrice Capote.
Credits
concept Angélique Kidjo, Jean Hebrail, Naïma Hebrail Kidjo text Naïma Hebrail Kidj music Angélique Kidjo, Jean Hebrail direction Cheryl Lynn Bruce set design Kerry James Marshall costumes Mary Jane Marcasiano lights Kathy A. Perkins projection design Rasean Davonte choreography Beatrice Capote sound Kumi Ishizawa musical direction John Samorian dramaturgy Iyvon E. coach sensitivity Ann C. James make-up design Beckie Kravetz casting Andrea Zee stage manager Meghan Maureen Williams cast Angélique Kidjo, Briana Brooks, Michael de Souza, April Nixon, George L Brown, John Carlin, Frank Lawson, Kendrick Marion, Hallie Chapman, Rheaume Crenshaw executive production Xtina Parks production The OFFICE performing arts + film commissioned by MassMoCA, Arts Emerson, The Broad Stage at Santa Monica College, Brown Arts Institute, Cal Performances, Ruth and Stephen Hendel, Holland Festival, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Yale Schwarzman Center with support by W.L.S. Spencer Foundation
This performance was made possible by: Ammodo & Institut Français
About Holland Festival
Holland Festival is the largest international performing arts festival of the Netherlands and one of the oldest festivals of Europe. The festival was established in 1947 and will celebrate its 75-year anniversary in 2022.
It takes places every year, In June, in and around Amsterdam, at various locations, both indoors and outdoors, both large-scale and intimate, both online and offline.