The Belgian director Lisaboa Houbrechts, often hailed as a sorceress of the stage, dissolves the boundary between music theatre and contemporary opera. A visible presence in today's European theatre landscape, she has taken to interpreting “Siddhartha”, a novel by Hermann Hesse, drawing audiences into a philosophical tale of the spiritual journey of a young Brahmin towards enlightenment in India, an exploration of self-knowledge, worldly doubt, and the pursuit of wisdom.
The director and concept artist Houbrechts reflects: “For me, the production Siddhartha is an exercise in selflessness. It is an attempt to detach yourself from your accomplishments and ambitions. To take a distance and open yourself up. Like the dervish who dances until he becomes hollow, a conduit between the earthly and the heavenly. But to achieve this, one must relinquish the self. In his search for his essence, Siddhartha has to continually bid farewell – farewell to his surroundings, his family, his friends, his guru and so forth, in order to be able to find the meaning, the solace and the beauty of life.”
Bringing together artists from Belgium, Venezuela, the Netherlands, India, and Latvia, and collaborating with the American composer Caroline Shaw, the production is an ambitious, compelling, and timeless odyssey of a human being seeking reconnection with self and spirituality. Already heralded as a major European theatre event of the year, the production features Dailes Theatre actress Milēna Miškēviča, alongside the magnificent Latvian Radio Choir under the artistic direction of Kaspars Putniņš.
Language – Performance in English with Latvian subtitles