Helstone in het Pand der Goden

TR25 Schouwburg

What does it mean to create an opera on Surinamese soil, shaped by European classical traditions and rooted in Surinamese stories? Theatre maker Mathieu Wijdeven unravels what Het Pand der Goden, more than a century later, still has to say to us today.

Het Pand der Goden was written by J.N. Helstone (1853-1927) and Wijdeven's great-great-grandfather G.G.T. Rustwijk designed the scenography. After the premiere, the opera disappeared into an archive cabinet and was only performed again 118 years later, which sparked very diverse reactions.

Johannes Helstone was born on the Berg en Dal plantation in Suriname. German missionaries on the plantation, the Hernhutters of the E.B.G. (the Evangelische Broedergemeente), discovered his musical talent and helped him study at the conservatory in Leipzig. Trained in the European classical tradition, but rooted in Surinamese stories, rhythms and myths, both worlds resonate in Helstone's music.

With documentary music theatre, Wijdeven explores the Western opera genre within a Surinamese context full of spirits, gods and myths. In moving arias and a musical reconstruction, what this Surinamese opera can mean for us today unfolds. Mathieu Wijdeven is the narrator and, together with opera singer Frank Dolphin Wong and pianist Djuwa Mroivili, he brings the story to life.