Dutch National Opera presents
This show was to been seen in May 2017
Children’s opera for age 8 and up
… absurd, contentious, but very entertaining youth theatre … (Theaterkrant)
… a swinging party … (de Volkskrant)
In short
Little Dog’s Heart is an opera for the whole family about the stormy events on board a Dutch merchant ship. It is a parody of a disorderly society, in which leaders blindly follow the opinion polls instead of plotting a brave course. Without pause for breath, the opera sails past everything that matters: from nostalgia to science, from masculinity to bragging, and from comradeship to love of animals. Little Dog’s Heart is a swinging, candid commentary on the world of adults.
Sing along with the sea dogs from the performance!
Take a look at the rehearsals of Little Dog's Heart.
The story
The Captain and his crew sail the seven seas with a cargo of frozen goods. Everyone’s in a good mood and joins in heartily with the sea shanties. The Captain is the undisputed leader on board, without a care for nature. He loves to shoot the seabirds out of the sky.
But then the ship’s dog Sharik is wounded by a bird falling from the sky. In order to save him, part of the Captain’s brain is transplanted into the dog’s head. Sharik survives, but that’s not all: he starts acting more and more like a human. He loses his tail, starts walking on his hind legs and begins to talk. But he’s not very lovable anymore. A huge argument erupts between the Captain and Sharik about who is the best leader. The dispute escalates and, to make matters worse, the crew resort to mutiny. With no leader on board, the ship soon starts to sink. The situation must be saved!
Will you sing along with the crew about their adventures on sea?
Take a look behind the scenes and see how the image at the top of this page has been created.
Marcel Sijm
Stage directorMarcel Sijm (concept and director) creates opera in all its various forms and does not shy away from interaction between different styles and performers. Besides the Baroque, classical and Romantic opera repertoire, he has a penchant for contemporary works, preferably in the Dutch language.
Team, Cast and Chorus
- Concept, Stage Director
- Marcel Sijm
- Libretto
- Erik Bindervoet
Robbert-Jan Henkes - Music
- Oene van Geel
Florian Magnus Maier - Musical Co-ordination
- Leonard Evers
- Set Designer
- Roel van Berckelaer
- Costume Designer
- Esmee Thomassen
- Lighting Designer
- Erik van Raalte
- Dramaturg
- Klaus Bertisch
- The Captain
- Anthony Heidweiller
- Sjarikmans
- Gable Roelofsen
- Slau
- Jeroen de Vaal
- Eiso
- Alexander de Jong
- Arie
- Mitch Raemaekers
- Padde
- Jan Willem Baljet
- Tim the Carpenter
- Marc Pantus
- Heintje, viola, cajon
- Oene van Geel
- Kurt, guitar
- Florian M. Maier
- Felix, violin, viola, guitar
- George Dumitriu
- Korneel, clarinet, ship's cat
- Bart de Kater
- Ijsbrand, percussion
- Andreas Kühne
- Animal Protection Woman
- Nanette Edens (actress)
- Live regie Maatjes
- Niels Beune
- Children of Circuswerkplaats Boost
- Orchestra Aboard
- Members of the Dutch National Youth Orchestra
- Sjarik The Dog
- Ginger
Creation
Bulgakov wrote a satire about the new Soviet man. Bindervoet & Henkes take a good look at our Dutch business acumen. Little Dog’s Heart shows the mess that adults make. Bobbing about in their little merchant ship, they control nature while wanting to stay in safe waters.
The music was written by two experienced composers of children’s opera: Oene van Geel (jazz musician) and Florian Magnus Maier (composer of heavy metal, flamenco and modern classical). Marcel Sijm based his concept on the novella Heart of a Dog by Mikhail Bulgakov and the picaresque novel Wijdlopige, brede en waarachtige beschrijving van de ongelukkige reizen van het schip de Visstick en haar gezagvoerder Kapitein Iglo by Bindervoet & Henkes.
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