the fantastic project of the young chateurs of the Opéra national du Rhin

Punished for refusing to do his homework, a little boy takes his anger out on the furniture and toys in his room. Suddenly, they come to life and take revenge in their turn. Written by Colette and set to music by Maurice Ravel at the start of the 20th century, The child and the spells is a mischievous and fantastic fable intended for young audiences. It is this apparently light but in reality very complex work that the students of the OnR Opera Studio are preparing to perform during a tour lasting several months.

Eight singers for 22 roles. Here is a summary of the challenge facing the young artists of the Opera Studio. Artists still in training and getting ready to live an incredible experience. Each one can play up to four characters: the teapot, the clock or the owl, with each change of role, it is necessary to change costume, to put in the skin of another. A challenge all the greater since the young people also take care of the logistics! And this is the originality of this new version of The child and the spells : the action takes place behind the scenes of a show. A mise en abyme which constitutes an excellent exercise for these young people according to the director of the show, Emilie Capliez: “It’s quite amazing, I didn’t think we could go so far in the interpretation with them because it’s true that it’s a rather particular piece in which they are objects that speak, animals. .. So there was quite a game to imagine “.

41 dates, two performances per day, several days in a row: this nomadic opera promises to be an experience that is both artistic and physical. In addition to the eight singers, four instrumentalists (two flautists, a cellist and a pianist) bring this two-part lyrical fantasy to life.

“The child and the sortilèges”, at the Comédie de Colmar until December 21, then on tour in Alsace from January 12 to May 14, 2022.