American Mother

In the organizer's words:

In October 2021, Diane Foley and Alexanda Kotey meet in a courthouse in the US state of Virginia. She, the mother of journalist James Foley, who was murdered in 2014, and he, a member of the group of four terrorists who held James and three other people captive for years and ultimately murdered them. Seemingly insurmountable rifts separate the two, and yet the conversation shows that hatred can also be overcome and that human destinies go far beyond what can be captured by the overly simplistic labels of "victim" and "perpetrator".

Charlotte Bray composed American Mother for Theater Hagen based on the book of the same name, which bestselling author Colum McCann co-authored with Diane Foley. The opera deals with the extraordinary case, which has attracted international media attention, and tells the personal story of a fateful day in the life of Diane Foley.

The British composer Charlotte Bray is one of the most sought-after contemporary composers and, following her opera Entanglement (2015), is once again tackling a highly explosive contemporary topic in American Mother . Travis Preston, Artistic Director of the CalArt Center for New Performance in California, is staging the world premiere with sets by internationally acclaimed set and costume designer Christopher Barreca.