Imoinda
IMOINDA or She Who Will Lose Her Name is a 2008 opera and the first libretto to be written by an African-Caribbean woman, Professor Joan Anim-Addo.[1] It is a re-writing of Aphra Behn's Oroonoko, first published in 1688.
Synopsis[edit]
The play features Oroonoko's lover Imoinda, a young African princess who is doubly enslaved, once by her king into marriage and then sold into the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The work focuses on her experience with the slave masters and the birth of a child who symbolizes the triumphant survival of African-heritage people forcibly transplanted in the Caribbean diaspora. Imoinda is ultimately reunited with Oroonoko.[2]
Publication[edit]
The libretto was first published in Italian (translated by Dr Giovanna Covi and Chiara Pedrotti) by the University of Trento and then later re-published in English by Mango Publishing as demand for it grew.
Productions[edit]
It has been performed in New York City, United States. In May 2008, the State University of New York at Geneseo and the Rochester School of the Arts put on a performance with funding from the New York State Music Fund.[2]
In 2019 the work was performed by Goldsmiths at the University of London.[3]
References[edit]
- ^ "Joan Anim-Addo page at Mango Publishing". Archived from the original on 2010-09-06. Retrieved 2009-11-03.
- ^ a b "SUNY Geneseo and the Rochester School for the Arts Unveil "Imoinda"". SUNY Genseo. 28 April 2008. Archived from the original on 13 June 2010.
- ^ Morgan, Tom. "World premiere for Afro-Cuban opera written by Goldsmiths academic". Goldsmiths, University of London. Retrieved 2023-03-06.