The Shoemaker
The Shoemaker, produced by Welsh National Opera in partnership with Oasis Cardiff and Fio, was directed by our Artistic Director, Sita Thomas! The Shoemaker tells the story of Isabella, who makes shoes for people who have decided to leave their country to pursue a different future and find safety and freedom, or so they thought...
The Shoemaker is a powerful story about resilience, endurance, power, and compassion with timeless relevance. Isabella diligently shapes, stiches and creates shoes for people who have decided to leave their country to pursue a different future. Leaving a storm of hatred, injustice, oppression and war, a series of individuals journey off the beaten path in the hope of finding safety, equality, and freedom. But when they arrive in the promised land, they come face to face with a disgruntled King and soon realise that their troubles are not yet over.
An exhilarating fusion of Latin American, Persian, and Western classical musical influences weave together to enhance the storytelling, guiding the audience through this standing performance.
This new and exciting approach to theatre gained an overwhelmingly positive response from both audience members and theatre reviewers.
Audience Feedback
- ‘An important new story, beautifully executed. This is a vibrant new direction for opera! Thank you for sharing this with us WNO & OASIS!’
- ‘Thank you for making an opera with so much empathy and hope. As a disabled person, I was comfortable and felt integrated. Please do more short operas that are short and accessible to children. Mazel Tov.’
- ‘A joyous show that was so rich. Diolch yn fawr iau ambroiad unigryw’
- Amazing spectacle of movement and song. Deceptively complex art performance with such a simple name. Interesting stage dimension and set design. Dancers are as fluid as the water and flames they represent.
Reviews
BUZZ - ‘Director Sita Thomas has turned the Weston Studio into a charged space: I was made to feel very welcome and I know work like this will get new, multicultural audiences in. The set of Jasmine Araujo comprises wheat, bowls, jugs and percussion – which we were encouraged to use at the start of the show.’
Click here to read the full BUZZ Review
Morning Star - ‘Congratulations to Welsh National Opera for bringing together refugee crisis groups and working with a variety of artists to bring to fruition a wonderful new opera, The Shoemaker. And this is not just an opera, but is performed among the audience and with rhythmic dance to complement the splendid singing.’