With colorful costumes and sets, a children's choir acting as reindeer herders and elements of the yoik, the opera in Northern Sami will make history as the first ever in Europe. It's about time, according to Elle Márjá Eira, who previously directed the film "Theft" based on the book of the same name by author Ann-Helen Laestadius.
Present in the performance is the ability to hear the heart of the earth, something that unfortunately not everyone does. There is less and less nature in people's lives, and therefore we are also becoming less attentive to it. The performance is also about how we humans are never satisfied but always want more, says Elle Márjá Eira, who comes from a reindeer herding family in Kautokeino in Northern Norway.
Reindeer herd and yoik
The libretto for “Eatnama váibmu”, as the opera is called in the original language, was written by the Sami playwright Rawdna Carita Eira and the composer is Britta Byström. With “The Heart of the Earth”, the authors wanted to create a work of art that differs from traditional Western storytelling.
Even in the opera house before the performance begins, the audience will notice that they have ended up in another universe. It is a living story based on the Sami creation myths and is not told linearly but moves in circles. Just like the reindeer herd and the yoik do, says Elle Márjá Eira.
Colorful performance
The hour-long opera is a performance for the whole family and if you don't know Northern Sami, it's no problem, confirms Elle Márjá Eira. The actors work a lot with their body language and the entire performance is also subtitled into Swedish using a text machine.
It is a colorful show but there is also a lot of darkness here, both visually and in the plot. It is a battle between good and evil and we will find ourselves both in the underworld, in the Shadowland where the spirits live, in our world above and in the cosmos.
"The Heart of the Earth" is the first Sami opera in Europe and will premiere on November 15th on the main stage of the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm.
In the performance "Heart of the Earth" (Eatnama váibmu), the audience gets to experience a Sami world and music with a yoik and a large children's choir from Adolf Fredrik's music classes, who act as reindeer herds and rays of the sun. The opera is in Northern Sami and the performance is subtitled in Swedish.
At the center of the plot is the Sami creation story and the god Ipmil who creates the sun, the moon, humans, reindeer and the magnificent nature.
The sun has two sons, Njáves and Háhces, who both find great love. But when Háhces realizes that he cannot hear the earth's heart beat, he becomes jealous and bitter, and it is not long before the brothers end up at war with each other. The play is also about living in harmony with nature.
Director Elle Márjá Eira is a Sami singer, reindeer herder, film director and screenwriter from Norway.
The libretto is written by Rawdna Carita Eira, a Sami playwright and author from Norway.
The music was created by composer Britta Byström.
Source: Royal Swedish Opera.
