We all love hummus and so does the protagonist of Zad Moultaka’s contemporary opera piece, Andreas. He sings of his love for this typically Middle Eastern dish together with a six-person ensemble with which he shares the stage. However, the ode to hummus turns out to be just an excuse to remember a tragic event in Andreas’ life: the witnessing of a massacre in his home country Lebanon. The composer Moultaka drew on his own experiences during the Lebanese civil war and mixed different music traditions to re-propose them in this contemporary opera piece. Director Max Hoehn chose the unadorned setting of Lewis Cubitt Square to present this effective project to the London public.

Photo©Max Lacome, Charlelie Marange