La Voix Humaine

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Mezzo-soprano Ruby Dibble stars as “Elle” (“She”) in composer Francis Poulenc’s gripping, one-woman monodrama, La voix humaine. Adapted from Jean Cocteau’s iconic play, this intimate “musical confession” is a searing, psychological portrait of a woman slowly unraveling over the course of an anguished 45-minute phone call. Led by acclaimed visual artist and opera director Marcus Shields and featuring the piano accompaniment of master opera coach Lisa Keller, this devastating one-act opera will be presented in Curtis’s Black Box Theater.

Confronted with a truth she is unwilling to acknowledge, Elle teeters on the brink of sanity as her lover of the last five years reveals he is to marry another woman the following day. As grief gives way to denial and rage, she attempts to keep him on the line for as long as possible to postpone the inevitable last goodbye. This intimate production explores the illusion of connection and over-reliance on technology in the modern world through timeless themes of isolation, loneliness, heartbreak, and despair.

Francis Poulenc, Music
Jean Cocteau, Libretto

Sung in French with English supertitles.

View the program book.

Admission requires advance registration and is complimentary.