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Musical posters Quadrivium ‘offensive’

Satan’s Seed, that’s the title of the musical that Auletes – music association Quadrivium’s wind orchestra – will perform during Pentecost weekend in collaboration with an operetta choir and conservatory soloists. An eye-catching title, and one that several people apparently are offended by, co-organizer Cas Mous says: “A large number of posters have been covered with thumb down stickers and the word ‘offensive.’” Quadrivium would like to sit down and talk to those responsible for placing the stickers.

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photo Quadrivium

Satan’s Seed – it does sound a bit more intense than Soldier of Orange. Nevertheless, physics student Cas Mous wholeheartedly recommends everyone to come and see the musical before passing judgement. “It will be a great show with something for everyone to enjoy: an attractive outdoor location, beautiful music, spectacular effects and an interesting story.”

ONE OF THE EDITED POSTERS ON CAMPUS. PHOTO | QUADRIVIUM

That story explains the title, says Mous, trumpet player at Auletes and one of the musical’s organizers. “The story is set in the Middle Ages and revolves around a woman, Elisabeth, who gets pregnant while her husband is away. The villagers come to the conclusion that she must be a witch and that she is carrying Satan’s child – she supposedly became pregnant with Satan’s seed.”

Open-air theater

The members of Auletes have been looking forward to performing their largest ever production for some time. It was originally planned as a lustrum performance in 2020, until COVID came along and ruined everything. The idea came from conductor Paul van Gils, Mous says. “He told us that this musical by Belgian composer Bert Appermont had never been performed in its entirety in the Netherlands before.”

Auletes sought contact with the Tilburg conservatory and with operetta choir Carmina Ludrica from Nijmegen. An open-air theater in the village of Overloon was chosen as a location, and it is here that Auletes will perform its musical on Pentecost Sunday June 5th at 20:00 hrs. and on Pentecost Monday June 6th at 14:00 hrs. However, it seems that the posters they designed aren’t to everyone’s liking, considering the thumbs down stickers and the word ‘offensive.’

Offensive

How does Mous feel about the fact that the posters for the musical he put his heart and soul into, are considered to be offensive by some? “In some ways, I kind of respect the fact that they put that much effort into covering so many of our posters with those stickers. That means that they deeply believe in something, just like we believe in our musical. That’s what we have in common.”

“But I also think that it’s a shame that they only respond to the title, without making an effort to find out what’s behind that title: a beautiful musical. It reminds me somewhat of the polarization during the COVID-19 pandemic – people are quick to form an opinion and no longer wish to talk to each other. That’s why we hope that the people responsible for this sign of protest will contact us, so that we can enter into a dialogue.”

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