Nederlandse Reisopera: Second Love

The Stronger, Barry's adaptation of August Strindberg's monodrama Den Starkare, is an intense and thrilling musical theatre piece. It is cast in the form of a conversation between two women: an opera singer and a silent actress. With Hagar , De Graaff wants to give a voice to the voiceless. Together with librettist Eleanor Barlow, he tells a modern story in which the characters make us reflect on our own complicated lives.

The story
In The Stronger, we meet two women in a restaurant. Madame X finds out that Mademoiselle Y (a silent role) may have had an affair with her husband. Madame X feels powerless, but realises that she is still the stronger of the two women. In Hagar , the story moves to the kitchen of the same restaurant. Waitress Hagar tells chef and secret lover Abram that she is pregnant by him. Abram is excited about his impending fatherhood, but fears his wife Sarai will find out. Sarai, who runs the restaurant business, discovers the news of Hagar's pregnancy and feels betrayed. Tension in the kitchen runs high, with dramatic consequences.