Shell Shock

Shell Shock – A Requiem of War
Opera by Nicolas Lens and Nick Cave
Directed by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui
Cinematography Karsten Liske
Post Production: Simon Van Rompay

Filmed at Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie Brussels in November 2014

Musical direction Koen Kessels
Choreography & direction Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui
Set design & video Eugenio Szwarcer
Costumes Khanh Le Thanh
Lighting Willy Cessa
Dramaturgy Ruth Little
Choreographer assistant Vebjørn Sundby
Chorus direction Martino Faggiani
Soprano Claron McFadden
Mezzo soprano Sara Fulgoni
Contratenore Gerald Thompson
Tenore Ed Lyon
Basso Mark S. Doss
Dance Eastman: Aimilios Arapoglou, Damien Jalet, Jason Kittelberger, Kazutomi Kozuki, Elias Lazaridis, Johnny Lloyd, Nemo Oeghoede, Shintaro Oue, Guro Nagelhus Schia, Ira Mandela Siobhan
Ragazzo soprano Gabriel Kuti, Theo Lally, Gabriel Crozier
Orchestra & chorus La Monnaie Symphony Orchestra & Chorus

World premiere November 2014 P
roduction La Monnaie / De Munt
Co-production Eastman
With the generous support of BNP Paribas Fortis
With the generous support of BNP Paribas Foundation
With the support of Federal Government
In the occasion of the commemoration of the World War I

Shell Shock – A Requiem of War

Whether you call it shell shock or post-traumatic stress disorder, war creates serious psychological wounds. A hundred years after the outbreak of the Great War, Belgian composer Nicholas Lens and Australian author and musician Nick Cave have written a new opera on this theme. In twelve poems or canti he evokes the anonymous protagonists of the war in a highly personal and fluent style : soldiers, mothers, orphans, prisoners, etc. The testimonies of these individual characters, with whom everyone can identify, make the universal call for a humane and peaceful world. The ‘choreographic directing’ of this international project is in the hands of the Belgian-Moroccan ‘choreographer of the year’ Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. This creation by La Monnaie has been incorporated into the official calendar of the Federal Committee for the Organisation of the Commemoration of World War I.