FULL THE SHELL TRIAL (Ellen Reid) Amsterdam 2024 Claire Barnett-Jones, Anthony León, Lauren Michelle, Audun Iversen
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Information on the Performance
- Work Title: The Shell Trial
- Composer: Reid Ellen
- Libretto: Roxie Perkins Libretto Text, Libretto Index
- Venue & Opera Company: De Nationale Opera & Ballet, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Recorded: March 16, 2024
- Type: Staged Opera Live
- Singers: Claire Barnett-Jones, Anthony León, Lauren Michelle, Audun Iversen, Ella Taylor, Carla Nahadi Babelegoto, Jasmin White, Erik Slik, Nikki Treurniet, Alexander de Jong, Allen Michael Jones, Yannis François
- Conductor: Manoj Kamps
- Orchestra: Akademiker und Mitglieder des Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Kinderchor The Shell Trial project chorus Watermusic Kinderkoor Noord-Hollands selectiekoor B! Music school en Leerorkest Zuidoost
- Chorus: The Shell Trial project chorus Watermusic, Kinderkoor Noord-Hollands selectiekoor, B! Music school en Leerorkest Zuidoost
- Choreographer: Winston Ricardo Arnon
Information about the Recording
- Published by: OperaVision
- Date Published: 2024
- Format: Streaming
- Quality Video: 4 Audio:4
- Subtitles: nosubs
- Video Recording from: YouTube FULL VIDEO
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE
The Shell Trial is based on the play De zaak Shell by Rebekka de Wit and Anoek Nuyens, which premiered in 2020 and caused a stir on the Dutch and international stage. Presenting a range of voices and perspectives in the climate crisis, the complexity of the case becomes increasingly clear during the opera. The boundaries between guilty party and innocent victim, between good and bad, and individual and collective responsibility become blurred as more and more viewpoints are expressed.
Synopsis
In a prologue The Artist introduces the audience to the current lawsuit against Shell. She invites the audience to think of this evening as a rehearsal for the future where everyone can examine whose responsibility it is to solve the climate crisis.
I
In a metaphorical courtroom figures representing The Law, The CEO of Shell, and The Government ponder the potential consequences of the Shell Trial and attempt to avoid blame for the warming planet.
II
The piece moves into the real world. We meet characters with less structural power as they question what their individual responsibilities are in the face of climate change. These figures include The Consumer, The Activist, The Fossil Fuel Laborer, The Airline Pilot, The Historian, The Climate Refugee, The Weatherman, The Elementary School Teacher and The Fieldworker.
The atmosphere becomes confrontational as these characters struggle with eco-anxiety and guilt over how their livelihoods are entangled with the oil industry. As each character battles their feelings of helplessness and rage, it is revealed that no one’s future is exempt from the environmental, political, and personal consequences that emerge from the Shell Trial.
Frustrated by inaction, these characters unite to resist the passivity of The Law, The CEO and The Government. However, they are overpowered returning the world to the status quo. Almost…
III
The Artist steps out of her previous role, mourning for all of those lost and opening up a door to the past.
Transcending time and space, children from The Past emerge. Their voices create an eerie and vast landscape, illuminating Shell’s environmental negligence and the Dutch colonialism that enabled Shell Oil’s fortune.
Children from The Past and The Future confront the audience, urging them to act now while they still can.
Quoted from operaballet.nl