PANUFNIK
Dalia A People’s Opera
Full Score
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Commissioned by Garsington Opera
First performed on 28 July 2022 by the Garsington Opera Youth & Adult Companies and the Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Douglas Boyd, at Garsington Opera, Wormsley Estate, Buckinghamshire
SYNOPSIS
PROLOGUE
A chaotic refugee camp, like the Calais Jungle. Police arrive to clear it. A refugee girl, Dalia, and her mother, Dr Aisha Khaled, are separated. Aisha shouts to Dalia to run, to get to England. Dalia is alone and terrified. A charity worker, Suzannah, helps her avoid a smuggler and devises a solution…
ACT 1: AUGUST
Scene 1
Dalia has reached Britain and has been accepted for fostering. She thinks her mother is dead. She feels the constant presence of her ‘Inner Voices’, who resemble former companions from her war-torn homeland, Syria. They echo her thoughts and articulate her inner conflicts. On a Friday afternoon, Suzannah and the Social Worker bring Dalia to meet her foster family in Hillcrest: Maya and Harry Roberts and their children Jasmine and Kiran. Maya is a dynamic businesswoman who runs her own garden design company. Harry, formerly manager of a print shop, has lost his job and Maya is frustrated with his state of mind. They are fostering because they need the money, but Maya is equally driven by a desire to help. Kiran is curious about the new arrival. Jasmine is slightly jealous. The Robertses try too hard, making felafel from scratch, having mistaken a middle-eastern recipe for Syrian. Dalia tries too, giving them a box of baklava. The neighbours are anxious: not that they’re not sorry for the child, but what’s she doing here? Some fear the cost to state resources. Dalia spots their hinted hostility and knows it means she must be careful. She checks her phone constantly for news of her mother – but none comes.
Scene 2
Dalia’s bedroom. Maya helps her settle in. Alone, Dalia remembers her favourite flower – jasmine – and sings of her memories of home (a melody based on a Syrian folksong). As she falls asleep, she experiences flashbacks from her terrifying journey into exile: the sinking boat, her father and brother drowning, Aisha trying in vain to save them. The memories become a nightmare. Maya comes in, having heard Dalia crying out. Maya realizes what a challenge it is to foster a traumatised child, but her heart goes out to the unfortunate little girl. The family try to comfort Dalia. Harry suggests they all attend the local cricket match the next day.
Scene 3
The local cricket ground. Hillcrest is out to see the match. The Robertses encounter Roger, the town busybody – a cricket fanatic and dyed-in-the-wool traditionalist, once an unsuccessful suitor to Maya. He has a small group of friends who, like him, disapprove of girls joining traditionally male sports and dislike foreigners in their community. Harry reflects, aside, on his own feelings: devastated by his redundancy, thinking he has let down his wife and children. Cricket provides his escape and as he watches Dalia playing a ball game with Kiran, he wonders if it will help her too. Dalia has not encountered formal cricket, but used to play in the refugee camp. Maya asks her to help make the tea and proudly announces what she’s brought. Some neighbours feel middle-eastern food is just not cricket tea. The match begins. Dalia is enchanted: here at last is order, fairness and focus. Roger disparages girls in cricket. Harry, a former cricket player, taunts him about the time he bowled Roger out, years ago. Alone, Roger remembers it miserably: what did he do to deserve Harry’s pace? How did Harry win Maya, the maiden bowled over?
ACT 2: APRIL
The local cricket ground. Time is passing. Dalia is settling in. She has joined the youth team. They train on Wednesday afternoons with Fred, a former professional cricketer who played in the Ashes test, but retired due to injury. Dalia is good at bowling and is becoming a skilled leg-spinner. Roger and his friends think girls’ cricket isn’t real cricket. Maya and the children retort that it’s all about brain. Fred praises the youth team, preparing for a national tournament. They sing of the joy their training brings them, though some of them are slightly scared of Dalia’s energy levels.
The smallest children arrive with their parents and Dalia gets them to sing her favourite song with her, then teaches everyone to say ‘We are a team!’ in Arabic. Roger encourages some of the adults to be anxious about Dalia’s influence, then lets forth a xenophobic tirade against her and the Robertses. Some of the parents are left anxious and confused. Maya, Harry and Fred are hurt and horrified. The young people protest that Dalia’s fate could have befallen any of them. Dalia struggles against the flashbacks the event provokes.
Harry suggests that Fred could talk to the town about his experiences: he is the local hero, a former cricket star, and could unite them. Fred agrees that if they reach the tournament final, he will give a speech. Together with the youth team and Dalia herself, they determine to seize the chance to shine.
ACT 3: JULY
Scene 1
Early morning. The street in Hillcrest. The youth team has reached the final, held at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London. Most of Hillcrest is going along to watch. The smallest children are excited about seeing Big Ben. Fred sings an inspirational aria about cricket. He will never play again, but will give his all to help the youngsters realise their dreams. Just as everyone is preparing to leave, Dalia receives a text message: Aisha is alive and has reached Dover, where she is in a refugee detention centre. Dalia must choose between loyalty to her team and the need to find her mother. She and Maya depart for Dover. Roger cynically observes them.
Scene 2
The detention centre. Maya and Dalia arrive and the guard grants them a few minutes. Aisha and Dalia are ecstatically reunited. Aisha tells Dalia that she can’t come to Hillcrest: this is like being in prison, but without knowing for how long. She is astonished when Dalia says she plays cricket, but distressed at the news that there’s a match that day, as it means Dalia must leave. Maya can’t bear to part them, but she can’t leave Dalia in such a place. Their time is up and Aisha, despairing, tells Dalia to play the match and make her proud. Dalia thinks it’s too late, but Maya says they’ll give it a go.
Scene 3
Lord’s Cricket Ground. Rain has stopped play! The youth team and Hillcrest fans are disgruntled. They haven’t played a single over and Dalia has vanished. Dalia and Maya arrive. Dalia, with dignity, explains the situation. Her team supports her: in her place, they’d have done the same. Roger is cynical; everyone else tells him to shut up. The rain clears. Fred encourages the team to get ready.
They play the match and win. Watching, Maya reflects that now they must help to free Aisha: this is only the start of that difficult journey. Harry is happy to see Dalia shine. Fred is proud. Roger loses himself in enthusiasm for the team’s victory, conceding that Dalia’s skill has triumphed. Kiran and Jasmine make sure he has recognized this… He shakes hands with Dalia and tells her she’s Man of the Match. ‘Woman of the match!’ say Dalia, Maya and Jasmine.
NOW THE COMPANY HAS A CHOICE! IS ROGER REDEEMED?
• Version 1: He acknowledges that perhaps he got it wrong about Dalia, but he simply could not see it before. The others forgive him.
• Version 2: He turns away to stew in his own juice, ostracized by the others. To be debated and determined by the company during the rehearsal process.
Dalia’s triumph is hailed by all of Hillcrest. But Aisha remains in the detention centre. Dalia’s success is bittersweet: Hillcrest has accepted her because she’s good at sport, but rescuing her mother will be much more difficult. Dalia has won the match for her sake. For now, they must remain separated…
CAST
Dalia (aged between 9 & 13) – a refugee girl Girl soprano
Aisha – Dalia’s mother
Mezzo-soprano
Harry Roberts – Dalia’s foster-father, ex-manager of a print shop, now out of work Baritone
Maya Roberts – Dalia’s foster-mother, a garden designer with her own business Soprano
Jasmine (aged between 13 and 16) – their daughter Girl soprano
Kiran (aged between 10 and 11) – their son Boy treble
Fred – the cricket coach, ex-national cricket team Tenor
Roger – the town busybody
Suzannah, the charity worker
A policeman in the refugee camp
A social worker
A smuggler
A detention centre guard
A cricket umpire
Counter-Tenor
Speaking role
Speaking role
Speaking role
Speaking role
Speaking role
Speaking role
Ahmed, Dalia’s little brother Child speaking role
CHORUS
Refugees
Adult community & youth companies
Refugee women in detention Some adult community & youth women
Cricketers
Men and boys (ideally 22 of them) – maybe a real cricket teams
Neighbours & cricket fans
Roger’s Friends
School Friends
Adult community chorus, youth company
Members of the adult community chorus (who sing with whole chorus the rest of the time)
Members of the youth company
Dalia’s Inner Voices Group of Arabic-speaking members of youth company
Youth cricket team
Cricket tea cooks
Smallest children
Other police
Group from the youth company
Group from chorus, mixed ages
Very young children
Non-speaking roles
DIGITAL CHOIRS: The Al-Farah Choir of Damascus and the Amwaj Choir of Bethlehem are participating through pre-recorded video
ORCHESTRA
Flute (doubling Piccolo)
Oboe
Clarinet in BBassoon (doubling Contrabassoon)
Horn in F
Trumpet in C
Bass Trombone
Percussion
Snare Drum, Bass Drum, Pedal Bass Drum, Vibraphone, Glockenspiel, Temple Blocks, Tam-tam, Cowbell, Claves, Whip, Electric or Hand Bell
Harp
Oud
Piano
Strings
Roxanna Panufnik
Roxanna Panufnik (b. 1968) studied composition at the Royal Academy of Music in London, and since then has written a wide range of works including opera, ballet, choral, orchestral and chamber compositions. Her great love of world music is evident in works such as her Four World Seasons for violinist Tasmin Little; Faithful Journey – A Mass for Poland, written for the National Radio Symphony Orchestra of Poland and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra to mark the centenary of Poland’s regained independence; and Songs of Darkness, Dreams of Light for the 2018 BBC Last Night of the Proms. Panufnik’s Across the Line of Dreams for two conductors, two choirs and orchestra received its premiere in 2019 with Marin Alsop, Valentina Peleggi and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.
Roxanna Panufnik (*1968) studierte Komposition an der Londoner Royal Academy of Music. Ihr vielfältiges Schaffen erstreckt sich von Opern und Balletten über Chor- und Orchesterwerke bis hin zur Kammermusik. Von ihrer großen Affinität zur Weltmusik zeugen u. a. die Four World Seasons für die Geigerin Tasmin Little, das Werk Faithful Journey – A Mass for Poland, komponiert für das Nationale Symphonieorchester des Polnischen Rundfunks und das City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra zum 100. Jahrestag der Wiederherstellung der polnischen Unabhängigkeit, sowie Songs of Darkness, Dreams of Light für die BBC Last Night of the Proms 2018. Panufniks Across the Line of Dreams für zwei Dirigierende, zwei Chöre und Orchester wurde 2019 von Marin Alsop, Valentina Peleggi und dem Baltimore Symphony Orchestra uraufgeführt.