Crusade

Worldwide, children are trapped in factories full of well-known brands. Sewing, stitching, toiling, for the sake of power and the multinational. Worldwide, children descend daily into mines full of easy money. Worldwide, children flee from destruction to another ‘tomorrow’. With a tireless resilience, looking for the freedom and selfrealisation they deserve. Kruistocht (Crusade) is a contemporary family opera by Johan De Smet and Frederik Neyrinck which zooms in on children’s slavery and migration by children.

In a diverse cast of all ages, with more than fifty children on stage and a musical alliance between orchestra and the Compact Disk Dummies, we find Marjan De Schutter, who previously dazzled at OBV in Der Silbersee, and multi-disciplinary artist Jaouad Alloul. In the pit for the occasion is the Youth Orchestra Flanders. Kruistocht is a theatrical quest for the rights of the child. A journey through history about a necessary battle that has yet to be won.