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Opera of the Falling (VR, 2019)

The Opera of the Falling is a musical and visual research on the loneliness of sorrow. The piece is a virtual reality opera, inspired by interviews with people with a psychological vulnerability. With psychiatry as a mirror to the world we live in, the experience calls for reflection and universal recognition.

The piece was exhibited at Eye Filmmuseum in Amsterdam and Fast Forward Festival at Staatsschauspielhaus Dresden, among others.

‘Text (Olivier Herter) and music (Amarante Nat) effectively break down the experience into individual words and minimal sound parts. The VR places the viewer in the middle of the scene, which ensures that they gradually involve the pain and loneliness. [...] The way the VR has been used to tilt the perspective between different 'I's' and the poetic form found to shape the paradox of despair – “tell me my sorrow and tell it quietly” – impresses.’

- TheaterkrantCredits

Director: Celine Daemen
Art director: Aron Fels
Composition: Amarante Nat
Voice: Sterre Konijn
Libretto: Olivier Herter

Sound and mix: Wouter Snoei
Spatial sound: Daniël Berends
Character rig: Louise van Putten
Producer: Cas Ketel
Artistic coach: Romain Bischoff
Business coach: Karel Janssen
Illustration: Ronja Ida Weia
Graphic design: Mees Walter
Marketing: Marita Hamer

Thanks to: Mondriaan GGZ

Presentations

2020    Fast Forward Festival, Dresden
2020    Festival Cement, Tilburg
2019     EYE Filmmuseum, Amsterdam
2019     Het zoekend hert, Antwerp
2019     Brainwash Festival, Amsterdam
2019     Winternights, Maastricht
2019     Cultura Nova, Heerlen





Nowhere - Artistic research on virtual architectures and immersion, resulting in a VR opera
2021