Breaking the Silence
Synopsis
Breaking the Silence is the love story of a woman living under the yoke of a dictatorial regime. Her husband has disappeared. He was a gifted and rebellious composer; she is a talented cellist working for the regime. When her husband suddenly vanishes without a trace, she embarks on a feverish and dangerous search that takes her deep into their shared past.Has her husband betrayed her? Is he a victim of the system? What has changed between them over the years? Through Shostakovich’s music and old tape recordings, she attempts to reconstruct what happened — a search that will ultimately change her life profoundly. The music of Shostakovich and Ligeti is specially arranged for the Berlage Saxophone Quartet. Peter Vigh creates new compositions for tape recorder in which text and instrumentation are intricately interwoven.For Breaking the Silence, Via Berlin collaborates with the Berlage Saxophone Quartet for the first time — a powerful combination. Composer Peter Vigh and Via Berlin’s artistic director Dagmar Slagmolen share a fascination with Russia and life under dictatorship. The saxophone ensemble brings an entirely new colour to Via Berlin’s musical palette.Premiered at the International Oerol theater festival 2017, followed by a tour through the Dutch theaters.
International premiere: Kosovo (Pristina 2017) followed by shows in
Russia (Moskow and St Petersburg 2017)
and China (Wuhzen theater festival 2018)
Reviews
“She (intensely portrayed by Dagmar Slagmolen) wanders feverishly through the Stalinist, angular set of bare desks and glass border-control booths. She becomes entangled in Kafkaesque thoughts, expressed in a beautifully circling text by Sophie Kassies. ★★★★”— Annette Embrechts – De Volkskrant
“Tightly designed, beautifully told and superbly performed musically. In every detail — the costumes, the set, the soundscape, the gripping choreography — a masterful hand is evident. (...) Under Ria Marks’ direction, Breaking the Silence has become a highly stylised production in which everything falls into place, including its heartbreaking finale.”
— Margriet Prinssen – Noord Hollands Dagblad“Considerably impressive is Via Berlin’s Breaking the Silence, which blends words and music into a compelling whole (...) music by Ligeti and Shostakovich, performed with brilliant timing by the Berlage Saxophone Quartet.”
— Marco Weijers – De Telegraaf“Associative fragments of text express her fear, her loneliness, and the connection and contrasts between man and woman. The music reflects or contrasts with this. The strictness of the mise-en-scène contrasts beautifully with the playfulness the composer continually sought in the music. The music never allows itself to be confined to a single meaning. ★★★★”
— Hans Brans – Leeuwarder Courant“Via Berlin can do it. They can transform old stories about composers living under a dictatorship into an intriguing and contemporary music theatre production about choices we face today (...) Breaking the Silence bombards you with confronting questions through theatre, contemporary text and classical music. Only the very best can do that.”— Youetta Visser – CultuurpodiumOnline