Opera meets factory floor: Meryem’s Ballad tells of migration, solidarity and women’s voices in 1970s West Germany.

Inspired by Richard Wagner’s Flying Dutchman, Meryem, a migrant worker, and Senta, Wagner’s heroine, meet in a reimagined opera about labour, resistance and solidarity. A hybrid performance with music, video and text, by and with artists from the Berlin and international scene.

Languages Turkish & German, with English and German surtitles

Concept | direction | textbabelfis / Sevda Hamzaçebi
Musical direction babelfis / Cem Dinler
Vocals babelfis / Sevda Hamzaçebi
Keys | Synth babelfis / Cem Dinler
Soprano Lisa Newill-Smith
Piano David Wishart
Trumpet | Synth Serkan Emre Çiftçi
Violin Penelope Gkika
Violoncello Emilia Lomakova
Violin Youka Snell
Viola Philine Höhnisch
Music babelfis, Richard Wagner
Video Mert Akbal
Research Sevda Hamzaçebi, Selen Müldür
Documentation Arda Funda
Sound Bora Küçükyılmaz
Graphic design Suat Can Beldek
Technical direction and lighting design Hilà Lahav (abroad), Ruth Waldeyer (abroad)

A production by babelfis in cooperation with ausland – funded by the Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion

Premiere in November 2023 as part of the Hinterhalt-Commission of Musicboard Berlin in cooperation with Deutsche Oper Berlin – Additional support Stiftung Menschenwürde und Arbeitswelt