The Egyptian singer Oum Kalthoum (c. 1900 – 1975) is still a hugely significant figure fifty years after her death. The new music theatre performance OUM combines her influential musical universe with the story Visage retrouvé by the renowned author and director Wajdi Mouawad. She is the face of classical Arabic music and her popularity in North Africa and the Middle East far outstrips that of even the greatest opera divas and pop stars in the West. The voice of Oum Kalthoum also has a special place in the hearts of many Dutch people with Arab roots. Director Kenza Koutchoukali and composer Bushra El-Turk have drawn inspiration from the music and poetry of Kalthoum’s songs and have joined forces with singers, actors and the musicians of the Amsterdams Andalusisch Orkest to create a production that incorporates the songs in a new musical narrative. Their adaption of the book Visage retrouvé by Wajdi Mouawad forms the basis of this music theatre work, a coming-of-age story about the search for your identity, rediscovering your roots and reconciliation with a mother you thought you had lost. OUM Kenza Koutchoukali and Bushra El-Turk Music theatre about rediscovering your roots, in collaboration with the Amsterdams Andalusisch Orkest and Theater de Meervaart Oum Kalthoum (1967) | Photo: Getty Images Premiere 21/3/2025 Subsequent performance: 23* March 2025 | Curtain-up: 20:00 / *14:00 | Ticket sales start on: 22 August 2024 | Prices: TBA | Location: Main Stage, Dutch National Opera & Ballet 51
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