Opera Philadelphia streams WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED online

On the run after a series of tragic incidents, five North Philly teens find refuge in an abandoned, condemned house in West Philadelphia at the exact location that served as headquarters of the MOVE organization, where a 1985 standoff with police infamously ended with a neighborhood destroyed and 11 people dead, including five children. This self-defined family is assuaged and even inspired by the ghosts who inhabit this home and begin to see their squatting as a matter of destiny and resistance rather than urgent fear.

We Shall Not Be Moved was created by two Haitian-American writers, composer Daniel Bernard Roumain and librettist Marc Bamunthi Joseph, and staged by director/choreographer Bill T Jones. The piece premiered three years ago at O17, the first edition of Opera Philadelphia’s now-annual festival; now the company is making it available for streaming on demand. This 2017 performance is conducted by Viswa Subbaraman and stars spoken-word artist Lauren Whitehead along with Kirstin Chávez, Daniel Shirley, Adam Richardson, Aubrey Allicock and countertenor John Holiday.

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The show can be viewed below and will be available through till August 31st 2020.