Helstone in The Temple of the Gods

What does it mean to make an opera on Surinamese soil, shaped by European classical traditions and rooted in Surinamese stories? Theatermaker Mathieu Wijdeven takes you into the world of the first Surinamese opera: Het Pand der Goden (1906), written by Johannes Helstone and with scenography by Wijdevens own great-great-grandfather G.G.T. Rustwijk. The work disappeared immediately after the première and was only performed again 118 years later, resulting in highly divergent reactions.