What would it be like if there were no more injustice in the world? If we were to overcome the power structures that suppress people? If nobody were to destroy the Earth, and if peace finally prevailed? If everybody could live and love as they wished?

The fairytale of King Hamed and Princess Sherifa tells of another time. Men and women were usually placed in strict boxes, where they were to remain, thank you very much. Most people thought that all women loved pink and soft fabrics and gossiped all day, while men liked war and strong spices and never bathed. Only when Princess Sherifa disguised herself as a man and visited King Hamed, who had banned all women from his kingdom out of rage, did these certainties suddenly come undone. King Hamed began to wonder: Are all men truly strong and love football? Could bravery and honour also be women’s virtues? Could men, too, have soft skin and lips? Can love truly be placed in a neat box? Are there more than two genders? Why do we have to package everything in two categories, and who even decided all of this anyway? Exceptional artist Heinrich Horwitz narrates the family opera Hamed & Sherifa by Lebanese composer Zad Moultaka as a look back from a utopian future – a time when all forms of life and love are possible and accepted. It is also a time when all barriers have been overcome, including those between the audience and the stage: When the performance is over, audience members big and small become part of one vibrant community.
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