Two Across

Amanda Payne received a grant to develop a spoken opera. In a living room overlooking the apartment complex across the street, two women — who, for unspoken reasons, have not left their home in five months — observe the world outside. Dressed in layers of costumes, they spend their days watching: the neighbours, a parakeet, a suspicious delivery van, yet they remain inside. Vocal patterns emerge like an unfinished melody, with meaning shifting through repetition. Words distort, silence fills the gaps, and the outside world evokes both longing and a paralyzing fear.

Amanda is a playwright, actress, and singer who challenges conventional uses of language and text in theatre. She has toured throughout the Netherlands and Belgium, performing in various musical productions for renowned companies such as Stage Entertainment, Theateralliantie, and Nanoek. In addition, she has developed her own work with several music theatre collectives. In 2018, she completed her Bachelor of Music Theatre at Codarts University of the Arts in Rotterdam, and in 2024 she earned her Master’s degree through the Re:master Opera programme at the Sandberg Institute in Amsterdam.