On the 31st of August and the 2nd of September, The Granaries in Floriana will see Valletta 2018’s new, original, large-scale opera scripted and staged entirely in Maltese: Aħna Refuġjati.
The opera, which is the first Maltese work of its kind, addresses timely concerns in the Euro-Mediterranean region, the human cost of large-scale immigration and the universal theme of loss as a result of political convenience, racism and prejudice.
The opera, composed by Mario Sammut and Richard Merill Brown, under the musical direction of Richard Merrill Brown and the direction of Mario Philip Azzopardi, is Sammut’s first operatic venture after working on multiple international and local projects.
Aħna Refuġjati recounts the story of Eleja, his wife Shari, and their three children aged 20, 18 and 10, who flee from their war-torn village in Syria after witnessing atrocities during the civil war, in hopes of a better life in Europe. The opera follows the family’s struggles with crossing borders, the lack of basic human rights, racism, separation and loss, on a journey motivated by hope.
Although the opera is entirely in Maltese, it includes surtitles in English as well as in Maltese.