Orpheus & Eurydike

An opera without orchestra, but in four acts
freely adapted from Christoph Willibald Gluck
in cooperation with the Pina Bausch Centre under construction

POUR ENSEMBLE
Idea & Organisation: Ute Völker

Tickets 22.01.

Tickets 23.01.

Tickets 25.01.

For the first time, the mixed-abled POUR ENSEMBLE is working with an opera, using its interdisciplinary approach to tackle a great myth of European cultural history. Among the composers of various eras who have taken up this theme, it is above all the operas of Claudio Monteverdi (1607) and Christoph Willibald Gluck (1762) that have changed the world of music. Musicians Gunda Gottschalk, Fabian Neubauer and Ute Völker have developed an idiosyncratic interpretation of Gluck's music for POUR ENSEMBLE. The ensemble members will play, dance, shout and also sing the opera – a first. An approach to the art form of opera, but also a piece about courage, love and longing. About yearning for someone, having to pass a test and the difficulty of not being able to look at each other.

Orpheus and Eurydike – the myth

Greek mythology tells how Orpheus lost his beloved wife Eurydice to a fatal snake bite just one day after their wedding. Orpheus, a gifted singer and lyre player and favourite of the gods, accused the gods. Cupid, the god of love, is moved to pity and allows Orpheus to descend into the realm of the dead and bring Eurydice back to life. On one condition: on the way back, he must not turn around to look at her until they have both reached the light of the upper world. Eurydice is first astonished, then deeply hurt and distraught when Orpheus does not look at her. Orpheus cannot bear her suffering – or is he overcome by fear that Eurydice will not follow him shortly before reaching their destination? He turns around... Eurydice dies a second time and disappears forever into the shadow world. Contrary to the myth, however, Gluck gives his opera a conciliatory ending: moved by Orpheus' deep pain and the great love between the two, Cupid intervenes and brings Eurydice back to life. POUR ENSEMBLE has opted for Christoph W. Gluck's hopeful version.

Cast: Tim Alberti, Dorothea Brandt, Gunda Gottschalk, Stefan Hellwinkel, Luise Kinner, Fabian Neubauer, Leo Nitas, Kenji Takagi and Ute Völker.
Direction: Jakob Fedler.
Music arrangement: Gunda Gottschalk, Fabian Neubauer & Ute Völker.
Stage & costumes: Oliver Kostecka.
Production management: Ute Völker.

In cooperation with: Pina Bausch Centre under construction, Kinder & Jugend Theater Dortmund, Prinz Regent Theater Bochum & Orangerie Cologne.

DAS POUR ENSEMBLE The POUR ENSEMBLE is an inclusive ensemble that was founded in Wuppertal in 2015. It is composed of professional artists with and without disabilities from various fields of the performing arts: spoken theatre, dance theatre and musical theatre. This mixture defines the ensemble's theatrical language: movement, language and music are equal parameters that influence and permeate each other. The performers are not limited to their ‘learned’ discipline – the dancer becomes an actor, the opera singer a dancer, and together they form the ‘stage band’, which is always part of the action. This presents everyone with new challenges and is always a game of uncertainty and unpredictability. It opens up new and different approaches to the material being worked on, it levels the playing field between artists with and without disabilities, it creates new perspectives on one's own abilities and expands the repertoire of all participants.

POUR ENSEMBLE has produced four successful stage productions in recent years: ‘Ich selfie mich selbst’ (2016), ‘Ich bin ein Prinz’ (2018), ‘Pourquoi pas...?’ (2021/2022) and ‘Jakob von Gunten’ (2023/24).
This form of collaboration between artists with and without disabilities on an equal footing and with professional standards is unique in North Rhine-Westphalia. From 2023 to 2025, POUR ENSEMBLE's work will be supported by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia with a three-year concept grant. The exploration of the opera Orpheus and Eurydice is the second project in the funding period.

Further performances:
Sat 28 February 2026 Prinz-Regent-Theater, Bochum
Sun 7 April 2026 Orangerie Theater Cologne (and further dates until 19 April 2026)