
Around 1900, she led the resistance against the troops of the British Monarch as an old woman and, together with the women's brigade she formed, held out for a year in the war for the Golden Stool, the throne and pride of the Asante people in Ghana.
The British had been slaughtering the Asante to gain access to timber, gold and cocoa for years. The industrial revolution in faraway England required resources, many resources, like a hungry beast. For Nana Yaa Asantewaa and her women, the British Monarch’s claiming of the Golden Stool was the last straw. The Golden Stool would not leave the country!
Nobulumko Mngxekeza-Nziramasanga (soprano), Nonkululeko Nkwinti (mezzo-soprano), Doris Bokongo Nkumu, Nathalie Bokongo Nkumu, Abena Biney Gloria, Titilayo Oliha, Saar-Niragire De Groof, Briana Stuart, Maïmouna Badjie and Somalia Williamson sing, act and dance the story of Nana Yaa Asantewaa and her courageous struggle, to the sounds of famous arias from the classical Western opera repertoire – which Gorges Ocloo has appropriated for the occasion. Handel, Bizet, Shostakovich, Verdi, Vivaldi, Beethoven, Orff... they all pass in revue. With this AfrOpera, Gorges Ocloo reveals his roots.
concept, direction, libretto, composition & costumes
- Gorges Ocloo
soprano
- Nobulumko Mngxekeza-Nziramasanga
mezzo-soprano
- Nonkululeko Nkwinti
choir, dance, percussion
- Doris Bokongo Nkumu
- Nathalie Bokongo Nkumu
- Gloria Abena Biney
- Titilayo Oliha
- Saar-Niragire De Groof
- Briana Stuart
- Maïmouna Badjie
- Somalia Williamson
advice composition & choir master
- Joris Minten
co-libretto
- Josse De Pauw
dramaturgy
- Josse De Pauw
musical advice
- Katherina Lindekens
directing assistance
- Chiara Monteverde
realization costumes
- Kasia Mielczarek
- atelier toneelhuis
production management
- Eva De Wolf
- Noor De Graaf
production
- Toneelhuis
- LOD muziektheater
coproduction
- Opera Ballet Vlaanderen
- O. Festival Rotterdam
with the support of
- enoa & the Creative Europe Programme
- de Tax Shelter van de Belgische federale overheid
thanks to
- Lukas Vanhoutte
- Naomi Lampariello
- Peter King
- Wilhelmina Donkoh
- The Queen Mother of Ejisu
- The Women Commission Office of the Koforidua Technical University