Jeux
Opera in six acts and nine scenes in English, Spanish, Tswana, German, Arabic, Hebrew, Russian, Greek, and Japanese
CHARACTERS IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE
ACT I: 1904. SAINT LOUIS, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Fred Lorz, an American runner - tenor
Thomas Hicks, an American runner - bass
Andarín Carvajal, a Cuban runner - tenor
Len Taunyane, an African runner - tenor
Jan Mashiani, an African runner - bass
Alice Roosevelt, daughter of the President of the United States - soprano
ACT II: 1936. BERLIN, GERMAN REICH
Leni Riefenstahl, a German filmmaker - contralto
Betty Robinson, an American sprinter - soprano
Adolf Hitler, leader of Germany - tenor
Jesse Owens, an African-American runner - bass
Khadr El-Touni, an Egyptian weightlifter - baritone
ACT III: 1968. MEXICO CITY, MEXICO
Tommie Smith, an African-American athlete - tenor
John Carlos, an African-American athlete - bass
Peter Norman, an Australian athlete - bass
David Cecil, the 6th Marquess of Exeter - tenor
ACT IV: 1972. MUNICH, GERMANY
scene 1
Wayne Collett, an African-American sprinter - tenor
Vincent Matthews, an African-American sprinter - bass
scene 2
Unnamed Man, in Latin America - bass
Unnamed Jewish Woman, in The United States - contralto
Unnamed Man, in Palestine - baritone
intermezzo
scene 3
Jim Brewer, an African-American basketball player - tenor
Tom Henderson, an African-American basketball player - bass
Ivan Edeshko, a Soviet basketball player - tenor
Sergei Belov, a Soviet basketball player - bass
ACT V: 2000. SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
Fernando Martin Vicente, head of the Spanish Federation for Mental Handicapped Sports - bass
Carlos Ribagorda, a Spanish journalist and “athlete” - tenor
Deborah Font Jiménez, a Spanish Paralympic swimmer - contralto
Purificacion Santamarta, a Spanish Paralympic sprinter - soprano
ACT VI: 2016. RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL
Rose Lokonyen, a South Sudanese refugee runner - soprano
Popole Misenga, a DRC refugee judoka - tenor
Paulo Lokoro, a South Sudanese refugee runner -bass
Rami Anis, a Syrian Swimmer - baritone
Taunyane, Smith, Collett, Brewer, and Misenga can be the same tenor - preferably Black
Mashiani, Owens, Carlos, Matthews, Henderson, and Lokoro can be the same bass - preferably Black
Carvajal and the Latin American Man in 1972 can be the same tenor - preferably Latino
El-Touni, the Palestinian Man in 1972, and Anis can be the same baritone - preferably of Arab or Palestinian descent
Roosevelt and Robinson can be played by the same soprano
Riefenstahl and the Jewish Woman in 1972 can be played by the same contralto
Lorz, Hitler, Cecil, and Edeshko can be played by the same tenor
Hicks, Norman, and Belov can be played by the same bass.