Across the world, children are trapped in factories, producing the goods we know so well — sewing, labouring, surviving in systems driven by power and profit. Others descend daily into mines in search of quick money. And countless children are forced to flee destruction, searching for a different tomorrow.

Crusade is a contemporary family opera by Johan De Smet and Frederik Neyrinck that confronts urgent themes of child labour and migration through the eyes of children themselves. At its heart lies a story of resilience — an unyielding search for freedom, dignity, and the right to self-development.

The production brings together a diverse, multi-generational cast, with more than fifty children on stage. It features performers such as Marjan De Schutter and multidisciplinary artist Jaouad Alloul, alongside a unique musical collaboration between orchestra and the electronic duo Compact Disk Dummies. The Youth Orchestra Flanders performs from the pit.

Crusade unfolds as a theatrical quest — a journey through history and into the present, revealing a struggle for children’s rights that is far from over.

A co-production of KOPERGIETERY and Opera Ballet Vlaanderen.