Premiere in Moenchengladbach
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Theater shows “Conversations of the Carmelites”
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Only a guillotine and 16 nuns on the stage: the performance of the opera in the theater in Krefeld.
Photo: Matthias Stutte
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Moenchengladbach For the first time, an opera by Francis Poulenc can be seen at the Mönchengladbach Theater. It is the production of a pair of sisters: Beverly and Rebecca Blankenship are directing.
There are only a few operas in which the women on stage talk about everything and everything – and not about being in love, a man, marriage. An exception is Francis Poulenc’s “The Conversations of the Carmelites”: 16 nuns talk about their fears and their convictions, they discuss life and death. “The focus is on women’s thoughts, which really appealed to us,” says director Beverly Blankenship.
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Together with her sister Rebecca she worked on the opera, which premiered in Paris in 1957. The focus is on nuns of the Carmelite order of Compiègne during the French Revolution. Because they did not want to give up their faith, they were expelled from their monastery and arrested. They are scheduled to be guillotined on July 17, 1794. Until then, the story is told from the perspective of the noblewoman Blanche (played by Sophie Witte) – she has taken refuge in the convent and decides to accompany the nuns to the bitter end.
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The opera touches on another subject that the Blankenship sisters find extremely interesting:
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the martyrdom. “We would like to extend the view to other cases up to the present,” says Blankenship. This also includes including all religious denominations and not assuming a sovereignty of interpretation. “Not only the Catholic faith has a right to martyrdom,” say the sisters.
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“The Conversations of the Carmelites” was performed in Krefeld in January 2019. There will be a small change on stage: Rebecca Blankenship has taken on the role of Madame de Croissy and can thus practice her profession as an opera singer. “I love being able to sing now, too,” she says.
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The sisters have opted for a reduced stage design: the women move in an empty space, only a blood-red guillotine is on the stage. “We want to show that people are the institution, the structure of society,” says Beverly Blankenship. The focus is only on the power of performance, which is an advantage in this emotional and expressive opera.
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The Lower Rhine Symphony Orchestra, conducted by General Music Director Mihkel Kütson, will also be placed differently than usual: not in the ditch, but behind the stage. This makes the music appear different and much more intense. Especially in the final scene, in which the choir sings the Salve Regina and little by little a nun falls silent.
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Info “The Conversations of the Carmelites” premieres on May 21 at 7:30 p.m. in the Mönchengladbach Theater. Tickets at www.theater-kr-mg.de.
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