With Collegium Vocale Gent
Director: Josse de Pauw

'One of the most original, haunting and troubling productions I have encountered in 20 years of Edinburgh Festival visits.' - The Daily Telegraph (UK)

A spellbinding recital of Schubert lieder is abruptly disturbed by people who wish to admit to their voluntary service in the SS. Drawing on an archive of 1960s interviews with Dutch veterans who enlisted with the Nazis in 1940, Ruhe (Silence) is verbatim theatre recounting the experience of those who cannot shake off the demons of their past.

Through songs, soliloquies and images, we witness these confessions in a gripping performance, which unveils the ambivalence between victim and perpetrator in the historical experience of continental Europe.

Ruhe’s complex emotional landscape is directed by Josse de Pauw and features the renowned musical ensemble Collegium Vocale Gent. This is Muziektheater Transparant’s Australian premiere.

Spoken in English, songs in German.

This production is supported by Ghent UNESCO Creative City of Music. Muziektheater Transparant is supported by the Flemish Government and the Province of Antwerp.

For artist talk, click here.

To view the Inner West 2010 Minisite, click here.

Photo: Herman Sorgeloos