The Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra’s (QPO) world premiere performance of “Nour, Anna and the Wise Fools” received warm response from an adoring audience mostly children at Katara Drama Theatre yesterday.
The new stage play debuted at the family concert which served as a highlight of the inaugural Children and Family Festival presented by the Philharmonic in partnership with World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) and Qatar Music Academy (QMA).
During the show, Qatar Philharmonic delivered a stunning performance of music composed by Richard Strauss and Qatar Philharmonic’s MAias Alyamani who also conducted the concert.
The short play featured Tamara Schäfer and Svetlana Schmitz, known as the theatrical duo ACTory, who played Anna and Nour as well as provided staging and costumes. The theatrical piece traces the story of Nour, who finds a new friend named Anna after moving from the desert to the big city. They play hide and seek in the attic of Anna’s house and find boxes filled with toys, clothes, old objects and books.
Presented as stories within a story, the play tells funny and witty anecdotes of wise fools from old times namely Djuha, Till Eulenspiegel and Nasreddin Hodja. One lives in the West while two live in the East, yet they discover they have many things in common.
It was a creatively crafted complete show combining music, acting and shadow play with audience interaction and participation which many of the children enjoyed. Yesterday’s show was the second of the four family concerts for the festival which kicked off on Friday with Alyamani’s “Nour, A Girl of the Desert” which marked a successful premiere two years ago.
Two more family concerts are scheduled for the festival including Peter and the Wolf on Friday, 5pm and 6.30pm at Katara Drama Theatre and Qatar Youth Orchestra with Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra on Saturday, 7.30pm at Katara Opera House.
The concert on Friday will feature shadow theatre by ACTory and visual artworks created by young students through a workshop under the WISE Happenings initiative, while the final show on Saturday will witness Qatar Philharmonic’s joint performance with Qatar Music Academy soloists and Qatar Youth Orchestra. Both concerts will be conducted by Qatar Philharmonic’s Giovanni Pasini.
In addition to the family concerts, a number of school concerts are also being organised to reach out to more young audiences. The festival was organised to underline the significant impact of integrating music to education to build communities and enrich lives.
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