Mohammed Fairouz
Expo 2020’s Al Wasl Opera to premiere in December
DUBAI, October 24, 2021
Tickets for Expo 2020 Dubai’s Al Wasl Opera, that celebrates thousands of years of UAE history, its achievements to date and its aspirations for the future, are now on sale from Dubai Opera, where the show will be performed, for its premiere run from December 16-19.
Produced in collaboration with Welsh National Opera (WNO), the performance features more than 100 artists and musicians, as well as a production team of 70 professionals celebrating Expo 2020’s theme, ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’.
Composed by Mohammed Fairouz, co-authored and written by Maha Gargash, directed by Sir David Pountney and conducted by Justin Brown, Al Wasl translates as ‘the connection’ in English, and is the old name for Dubai.
The connection implies international co-operation, with Al Wasl Opera showing how people must work together to channel Sustainability, one of Expo’s three subthemes.
Expo 2020 Dubai Commissioner General Office Executive Director Najeeb Mohammed Al Ali said: “Expo 2020 Dubai is offering a landmark opera that supports the UAE’s arts scene, and also reflects our country’s values of tolerance and co-operation, as well as our global sense of responsibility to each other and our planet.”
Fairouz said: “Celebrating Expo 2020’s vision of collaboration, Al Wasl Opera brings together many people from a variety of artistic backgrounds in order to create one art form – and there’s nothing more universal than opera and theatre. If people can laugh and cry together, then anything is possible between them.”
Sir David said: “The story of Al Wasl begins in the desert, and we created a rather original way of depicting this desert in a metaphorical way.
"In the middle act, we are in the present, where there is a strong reference to the creation of the Burj Khalifa, and we move on into the future in the final act, where we are in pure fantasyland about what the future may or may not look like, depending on whether we make a commitment to a sustainable tomorrow.”
Al Wasl Opera will be presented in English, with a runtime of 120 minutes, including one intermission.-TradeArabia News Service
