Dialogues
des Carmélites

Dialogues des Carmélites or the rhetoric of martyrdom

A tragic and little-known episode of the French Revolution, the true story of a religious community guillotined during the Reign of Terror inspired the writer Georges Bernanos to create the character of Blanche de la Force, this drama's unwitting heroine. Blanche wishes to enter a convent, leave her family, break with a life that has been mapped out for her, and plunge into the unknown, at the risk of total self-sacrifice. It is not a struggle, but a surrender to something greater than herself, while all around her noise and fury erupt. With this powerfully moving work, dramatist Tiphaine Raffier makes a sensational debut in the world of opera. She has chosen to present Francis Poulenc's masterpiece in its most radical and contemporary form, relating how Blanche's courage gradually merges with that of the entire community as they make their way to the guillotine in one of the most moving scenes in the entire operatic repertoire. This production does not present us with a flawless heroine, but a woman in search of the absolute and who, in defiance of the rigid codes of an aristocratic family and political fanaticism, resolves to remain faithful to her commitment until the very end.

‘One must risk fear
as one risks death,
for true courage lies in this risk.’

A film, a book and a lecture to learn more:

• Thérèse (Alain Cavalier, 1986): A sober and contemplative film about the life of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux and the painful parallels between faith and sacrifice. (to be discovered at Cinéma Cameo Commanderie, more information here)
• La Dernière à l'échafaud (Gertrud von Le Fort): The short story that inspired Bernanos, less well known but of great spiritual depth. (Julliard)
• Un procès sous la Terreur : la fin des Carmélites de Compiègne (17 July 1794): With Patrice Gueniffey, historian.
  Sat 24 Jan at 10 a.m. at the Opera House. (more information here)