OUM 2 – A Son’s Quest for His Mother

Nineteen-year-old Wahab struggles through a nighttime snowstorm on his way to the hospital, where his mother lies dying. On his journey, Wahab carries deep in his heart—though unconsciously—the song Al-Atlal ("The Ruins") by Oum Kalthoum. This song embodies the sorrow of a lost home, the yearning for love, and ultimately, the promise of reconciliation amidst the fragments of a broken relationship. The performance is based on the novel Visage Retrouvé by writer and theatre maker Wajdi Mouawad. Composer Bushra El-Turk, Dutch National Opera, the Amsterdam Andalusisch Orkest, and Meervaart, along with Nadia Amin and singers Ghalia Benali, Dima Orsho, and Bernadeta Astari, guide the audience through Oum Kalthoum’s musical world in a coming-of-age story about the search for identity, reconnecting with one’s roots, and reconciling with a long-lost mother (oum in Arabic).