Directed by Brett Bailey with musician Nkosinathi Koela as Orpheus, The Stranger is a ritual drama of love, consciousness and ephemerality based on the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus, a musician whose songs reveal the inner harmony of the universe. His music is so beautiful that rocks, animals and trees gather around him to listen. On the night of his wedding, his bride is killed by a snake, and he travels to the Underworld to retrieve her.
A meditative, ritualistic performance work, The Stranger is a continuation of Brett’s exploration of the intersections between ancient myth and contemporary realities; ritual and theatrical performance; dream and waking actuality; and the immigrant and shaman as traversers of frontiers.