Libretto by Catherine Filloux
Music John Glover, at Houston Grand Opera

Yani Rose Keo, a vibrant, ageless Cambodian refugee, sits on an empty plane that has not taken off, haunted. “What did I do wrong?” she asks herself. How will she survive? The wound never heals.

Three refugees: Mitra, a Nepalese black belt farmer from Bhutan; Rose, a Nigerian orphan; and Samuel, a lost boy from the Sudan board the plane launching Yani’s infectious legacy of community gardens, beautiful writing and new jobs. Yani will be haunted, forever, by the many empty seats on the plane, which allowed her to escape: seats that could have been for her mother, father, and all her family, who stayed in her country and died. However, Yani and the refugees’ collective desire to help others allows them to soar to Houston, Texas in America.

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For the past three decades French Algerian American award-winning playwright, librettist and activist Catherine Filloux has had plays and opera produced in the U.S. and internationally. Plays/operas about Cambodia and the U.S., include EYES OF THE HEART, SILENCE OF GOD, PHOTOGRAPHS FROM S-21, WHERE ELEPHANTS WEEP and NEW ARRIVALS. Her new musical recently opened Off Broadway in New York City. www.catherinefilloux.com