Barzakh

The Arabic word barzakh refers to a border space between two worlds in which deceased souls must wait in a state of sleep for a final judgment before they can travel further. It is a recognisable situation for people who are awaiting trial in pre-trial detention, as becomes apparent from conversations between them and theatre maker Thomas Bellinck. During workshops in several Belgian prisons, they created a new performance together and determined what would appear on stage. The opera repertoire served as a starting point: in operas we often see criminal acts and incarceration in a romanticised way, but does this correspond to reality? Composer Osama Abdulrasol translated the material from the workshops into music for singers and chamber orchestra. Barzakh questions the world views that emerge from operas and takes a critical look at the prison system.