In Lyon, a world premiere of an opera features an ordinary woman who decides to take her boss “Hostage”

An opera composed by Sebastian Rivas, based on the novel by Nina Bouraoui, depicts the story of an ordinary woman, who experiences hell and decides to put an end to it in her own way. “Otages” can be seen at the Théâtre de la Croix-Rousse in Lyon, until March 23.

The La Croix-Rousse theater, in collaboration with the Lyon Opera and the Biennale des Musiques Exploratoires, presents until March 23, Hostages. The inspiration is taken from the novel of the same name by Nina Bouraoui, which deals with the sexist social and economic pressure faced by women. This global, contemporary and lyrical creation offers a portrait of a woman freeing herself from the shackles in which she lived: Sylvie Meyer.

The piece begins with the words of Sylvie herself: “I am a mother of two children. I have been separated from my husband for a year. I work at Cagex, a rubber company. I manage the adjustments section. I have no criminal record.” It is the story of an ordinary 53-year-old woman, silently going through the trials of her husband’s abandonment and the pressures of everyday life. But, one morning in November, the violence of the world, the loneliness and the injustice become unbearable. In an act of rebellion, she abandons all restraint and destroys everything in her path. Submissive for a long time, she shatters everything. This worker, exhausted by her life and the mental burden that accompanies it, ends up kidnapping her boss. Despite the potential condemnation of her actions, for Sylvie, this revolt is a rebirth. It’s a poignant portrait of a woman whose every pain and word resonates with today’s struggles.

“It is a powerful and intimate testimony which helps to give voice to the invisible, to ordinary women who nevertheless deeply feel the tear that there is in the world.”

Richard Brunel

Director

A feminist opera

Theater, cinema, opera, the production explores the character of Sylvie Meyer in all her complexity. Behind an immersive setting, the music is directed and performed by a women’s orchestra. The musicians sometimes abandon their instrument to embody, on stage, the factory workers.

The score is deliberately feminist. She gives a path and a space to the liberated woman that Sylvie becomes, long remaining in denial of a society which deprives her of her freedoms. For Sébastien Rivas, when composing, his proposal is “the fruit of a more personal reflection on the toxicity of masculinity and power, as well as on questions of influence in romantic conventions or that of work”.

Which Nicola Beller-Carbone, the soprano who plays Sylvie Meyer, will not contradict: “She makes a decision in life to be different. It was necessary to show a different face, she is a contemporary woman, a completely common heroine to give her dignity and dimension in the theater space. is very rewarding.”

The lyrical creation can be discovered until March 23 at the La Croix-Rousse theater in Lyon. Prices from 14 euros. Reservation.