Event Details

This world premiere opera is co-produced and co-commissioned by Spoleto Festival USA. With a groundbreaking score that weaves Arabic Maqam and Western classical music, Ruinous Gods urges crucial conversations about the effect of displacement on migrant children. Grounded in testimonies from survivors and families of those afflicted with resignation syndrome, the evocative opera follows the experiences of a mother, Hannah, and her 12-year-old daughter, H’ala, who suffers from a traumatic response to the state of living in the limbo of displacement. Ruinous Gods is composed by Layale Chaker, a violinist and composer; with a libretto by Lisa Schlesinger, playwright/theatre activist and writer.