WOMAN AT POINT ZERO

They know that if I live, I will eventually kill them.

Nawal El Saadawi, Woman at Point Zero (1975)

An Egyptian woman awaits on death row: she killed her pimp in self-defence and is therefore about to be hanged. Ferdaous – whose name in Arabic means “paradise” – recounts her exemplary story from hell: it is a story of a woman who, since her earliest childhood, has suffered all possible forms of male domination and exploitation, including prostitution. Inspired by the acclaimed and cutting novel by Nawal El Saadawi, a leading advocate of women's rights in Egypt, Woman at Point Zero is led by four women artists – composer Bushra El-Turk, stage director Laila Soliman, writer Stacy Hardy and film director Aida Elkashef – who are eager to bring new women’s voices in opera and, in so doing, to reinvent opera’s form and language. Empowerment, sisterhood, and a liberating humour are the ingredients of this multimedia opera, which draws on diverse musical influences from Europe to Asia and the Middle East. It is supported by enoa, the European network of opera academies, and has been awarded the FEDORA Opera Prize 2021.