National Arts Centre - Centre national des Arts Canada is our stage. Le Canada en scène.

HUSH: Henry’s Dream Machine

Visual concert-performance

Nov 9 - 10, 2022

Azrieli Studio 1 Elgin Street Ottawa Canada

In-person event
Bilingual
Ages 6-12
Approx. 55 minutes

Performance options	Start time	Language	Availability
Wednesday, November 9, 2022	9:45 am	bilingual	sold out
Thursday, November 10, 2022	9:45 am	bilingual	sold out
Thursday, November 10, 2022	12:30 pm	bilingual	sold out

After Bach and Miles Davis, it’s Henry Purcell’s turn to get a “makeover” from the renowned Zonzo children’s theatre company. Via a miniature version of a theatre straight out of the composer’s time, you’re invited on a wild and crazy journey through Baroque music and fantasies in a land of dreams and imagination! This project is the result of a joyous partnership between Quebec and Flanders.

Put on your finest silk stockings, board a ghost ship, crank up the wind machine and discover the bewitching world of HUSH, an off-the-wall concert-performance about Henry Purcell, the Shakespeare of English music! His most sublime compositions travel from the 17th century to the present day thanks to the genius of an amazing lutenist/electric guitarist, a fiery accordionist and a simply divine soprano.

But wait—there’s more to it than meets the eye! Strange characters in ruffled collars, mind-boggling sea creatures and lacy vegetation: the stage becomes a magical box that shifts and changes before your eyes. It’s like stepping into the pages of a fantastic pop-up book!

This event has passed

This event ended on: Nov 13, 2022

Adults & chaperones

1 Free adult per 15 students

Free admittance for special needs assistants

$ 9 (HST included) for additional chaperons At the discretion of the National Arts Centre

Payment deadlines

3 weeks before the performance

Full payment is required by the payment deadline. The NAC reserves the right to cancel any orders submitted but not paid for by the payment deadline.

Seating

There are no reserved seats for NAC student matinee performances.

Instead of tickets you will receive a letter of admission and groups will be seated on a first-come, first-served basis at the performance.

The letter of admission will be issued upon receipt of full payment.

If you have any questions, please contact us at education@nac-cna.ca

Artists

Direction and set design by Wouter Van Looy

Direction and set design by Wouter Van Looy

Ear awakener

Internationally renowned musical theatre and opera director, artistic director of theatre company Zonzo and the BIG BANG Festival, present in over a dozen European cities, the Belgian Wouter Van Looy has made a huge contribution to making music accessible to a wide and diverse audience. Why do musicians wear such formal outfits? Why are they traditionally so far from the audience? How can we approach the repertoire to make it more current and engaging? By asking questions like these, he has created unique stage experiences that shed a whole new light on such mega-composers as John Cage (Listen to the Silence), Miles Davis (Mile(s)tones) or Henry Purcell (Hush).

Dérideur d’oreilles

Metteur en scène de théâtre musical et d'opéra acclamé sur la scène internationale, directeur artistique de Zonzo Compagnie et du Festival BIG BANG, présent dans une quinzaine de villes européennes, le Belge Wouter Van Looy a amplement contribué à rendre la musique accessible à un large public. Pourquoi les musiciens ont-ils des tenues austères? Pourquoi sont-ils traditionnellement éloignés des spectateurs? Comment décoiffer le répertoire pour lui donner des allures plus vives et actuelles? C’est en se posant ces questions qu’il a façonné des objets scéniques singuliers qui donnent à voir et à entendre autrement des compositeurs-monuments comme John Cage (Listen to the Silence), Miles Davis (Mile(s)tones) ou Henry Purcell (Hush).

Close
Dramaturge Mélanie Dumont
Dramaturge Mélanie Dumont

Player

For Mélanie Dumont, the theatre is a fabulous playground! Since 2011 as associate artistic director of NAC French Theatre, Mélanie has focused on providing fantastic interdisciplinary spaces for audiences age 0 to 20 to flex their imaginations! A close associate of Brigitte Haentjens, she has acted as dramaturg for several of her productions, including Rome, Richard III and Dans la solitude des champs de coton, and also wrote Ce qui se trame, an overview of this important artist’s practice. Having developed close artistic links with Flemish creators over the years, Mélanie has collaborated on a number of Belgian projects, including Hush with the Zonzo company and the BIG BANG Festival.

Joueuse

Pour Mélanie Dumont, le théâtre est un fabuleux terrain de jeu! La preuve, elle s’engage depuis 2011 en tant que directrice artistique associée au Théâtre français du CNA à offrir aux 0-20 ans des espaces spectaculaires, interdisciplinaires, pour entraîner le muscle de l’imaginaire! Elle est aussi une proche complice de Brigitte Haentjens. Elle a assuré la dramaturgie de plusieurs de ses mises en scène dont Rome, Richard III et Dans la solitude des champs de coton, en plus d’avoir écrit Ce qui se trame autour de la pratique de cette artiste majeure. Ayant développé au fil des ans une idylle artistique avec des créateurs flamands, Mélanie Dumont collabore à certains projets belges, dont Hush avec la compagnie Zonzo et le Festival BIG BANG.
NAC media featuring Mélanie Dumont
- Projects & initiatives
- Stories
Close

Music Henry Purcell
With Jan Van Outryve (lute), Benjamin Macke (accordion), Julie Calbete (soprano)
Musical arrangements Jan Van Outryve and Anne Niepold
Text Shakespeare, Dryden, Tate (adaptated by Mélanie Dumont and Wouter Van Looy)
Video Nele Fack
Sound Design Jo Thielemans
Costumes Johanna Trudzinski
Advice visual concept Marcelle Hudon
Advice set design Sascha Van Riel
Additional recordings Stijn Demeulenaere
Technical director Arthur De Vuyst
Produced by Zonzo Compagnie
Coproducers Les Festivals de Wallonie, Opéra de Lille, Concertgebouw Brugge and Het Laatste Bedrijf
With the support of La Maison qui Chante, Flanders, the Government of Quebec, and the European Union’s “Creative Europe” program.

Join our email list for the latest updates!

Support Performing Arts Learning and Engagement!

Your donations through the NAC's National Youth and Education Trust help the NAC provide learning and engagement opportunities for all — from young children in the classroom, to artists, to the lifelong learner.

Support the Program

Learning and engagement at Canada’s National Arts Centre is made possible through the support of many generous individuals and organizations from across the country. Arts Alive is generously supported by the Azrieli Foundation, the Government of Nunavut, Canadian North, Calm Air, The River Philip Foundation, The Turnbull Family Community Building Foundation, and The Thomas Sill Foundation. Thank you also to Grant and Alice Burton, Canada Life, A Donor-Advised Fund at the Community Foundation of Ottawa, Friends of the NAC Orchestra, Donors to the NAC Foundation's Future Fund, The Janice and Earle O’Born Fund for Artistic Excellence, and the donors and sponsors of the NAC’s National Youth and Education Trust, the primary resource for youth and education funding at the National Arts Centre.

Was this information helpful?