The Golden Stool

About

The Golden Stool is an AfrOpera by multidisciplinary artist Gorges Ocloo that blends iconic Western operatic music with African traditions to tell an anti-colonial story. Ten women sing, act, and dance to reframe famous arias by composers such as Handel, Bizet, Shostakovich, Verdi, Vivaldi, Beethoven, and Orff within a narrative of resistance and cultural reclamation. Ocloo directs, composes, and designs the set and costumes, creating a unified, physical, and rhythmic theatrical experience. Produced by LOD muziektheater and Toneelhuis, and co-produced by Opera Ballet Vlaanderen and O. Festival Rotterdam, the work challenges conventional operatic boundaries while revealing the creator’s Ghanaian roots.