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The Golden Stool, or the story of Nana Yaa Asantewaa

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The cast of The Golden Stool performing on stage, wearing long golden dresses

Interweaving singing, dance, and cutting-edge theatre, Gorges Ocloo’s ground-breaking AfrOpera re-examines Nana Yaa Asantewaa’s defiant stance against colonialism and cultural appropriation.

Bizet and Handel go head-to-head with Aretha Franklin and Lady Gaga as Ocloo deconstructs (and reconstructs) western music while drilling into the legacy of Asantewaa and her all-female brigade – specially formed to thwart British designs on a revered symbol of Asante identity: the Golden Stool. Underpinned by a score enlisting a percussion machine and boomwhackers, a 10-strong female cast creates a mesmerising piece of music theatre.

‘Mixing Western opera traditions with African percussion and beats? For that you need a delightfully unorthodox composer like Gorges Ocloo. Musically he treads unseen paths’. (De Standaard). When he won the Flemish Cultuurprijs Ultima in 2022, the jury commented ‘The fearlessness with which Ocloo takes on different disciplines and roles is immensely refreshing. A show of his never leaves you untouched’.

Tagged with: Classical music Barbican Presents Young Barbican

The end time for this concert will be added here closer to the performance date

Produced by the Barbican

Programme

Gorges Ocloo The Golden Stool

Performers

LOD Musiktheater
Nobulumko Mngxekeza-Nziramasanga soprano
Nonkululeko Nkwinti mezzo-soprano

Ticket prices

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No booking fees.

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2 tickets max per booking. Subject to availability.

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£10

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Subject to availability.

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Booking a wheelchair space: Select a seat displaying the wheelchair user icon and then select wheelchair user ticket type. The ticket will be priced at the lowest price for that event. If you need an essential companion, please select the click the E icon next to the wheelchair space you have selected. 

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20% discount for groups of 10+. Contact [email protected] to make a group booking.

Subject to availability.

*Excludes £4 booking fee
Ticket prices for this performance may be adjusted over time in response to demand
‘Mixing western opera repertoire with African percussion and beats? For that, you need a delightfully unorthodox composer like Gorges Ocloo. Musically, he treads unseen paths in The Golden Stool.‘
De Standaard

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