Last month I had the great pleasure to work on Lalaei, a story-telling concert with Zwerm, Iranian singer Sarah Akbari, drummer Karen Willems and story-teller/writer Marie Phillips. After a great first run with performances in Amsterdam, Brussels, Gent, Antwerp and Bruges, we’re picking up again coming weekend with two more shows in Bornem and Mechelen. All info here!
“Lalaei is about powerful women, about women who won’t be silenced, but not with the overwrought, activist messengerism found in many hip festival formats today. In this small, perfect narrative concert, women of the past and present seek and find their agency with a natural obviousness.”
How do you lull your child to sleep when confronted with violence, in whatever form? And where do you find the words to tell what that does to you deep inside? These and other questions were triggered during the making process of 'Lalaei'.
In this unique cross-cultural collaboration between Belgian-Dutch band Zwerm and percussionist Karen Willems, Iranian singer Sarah Akbari, British storyteller Marie Phillips, Israeli director Raphael Rodan and music theatre company Walpurgis, we explore the hidden darkness behind the seemingly innocent songs sung to children. Heart-rending Middle Eastern lullabies are interwoven with a grim story from Ovid's ‘Metamorphoses’. Marie Phillips tells the tale of Procne: a noble queen, a dutiful daughter, an obedient wife, a loving mother. But one day, her sister is hurt in an unimaginable way, and all her supressed rage rushes to the surface, threatening to destroy herself and everyone around her.
Also check out the beautiful podcast surrounding this performance, made by Teletext.