Yona, Sarai, Ruwth

The libretti to "Yona," "Sarai" and "Ruwth," the trilogy of chamber operas with music by Robert W. Griffin, tell the stories of the well-known biblical figures of Jonah, Sarah and Ruth in a new light This kind of re-imagining of the ancient tales is most alive in the Jewish Midrash tradition. The ambivalence of justice, its vertical and horizontal dimension so to speak, is the main theme of "Yona" and "Sarai." In "Ruwth" the struggle for justice is taken from heavenly spheres down to earth. The community of Bethlehem has to decide how to receive the impoverished widow Na'omi and her Moabite daughter-in-law, learning to transcend long-established communal customs and create a more universal and inclusive society.