French actress Fanny Ardant will play Cassandra in Michael Jarrell’s spoken opera at the Pattihio Municipal Theatre in Limassol on October 2, with 18 musicians on stage. The performance was postponed in March because of the situation in the region at the time.
The Commandaria Symphony Orchestra will play live alongside Ardant, conducted by French conductor Jean Deroyer. The show is part of the Cyprus International Theatre Festival (CITF) and is the closing performance of this year’s theme, SHE IS HERE, which is dedicated to the independent female voice on the contemporary stage.
It runs for 70 minutes without an interval. It is performed in French, with surtitles in Greek, English and Russian.
The work
Cassandra is a Sprechoper, or spoken opera: a monodrama for an actor and an orchestra. The Swiss composer Jarrell wrote it in 1994, basing it on German author Christa Wolf’s 1983 novella of the same name. Wolf had already shifted the focus of the ancient myth. Instead of Agamemnon speaking, or Cassandra appearing as a minor figure in the tragedy, the prophetess has her own voice and looks back on her life.
The story is set shortly before her death. At the gates of Mycenae, facing the end, she recalls memory, loss, war and prophecy, and her inability to share what she knows with others. She knows what is going to happen, but nobody believes her. Strings, wind and percussion will play live beside Ardant.
Ardant last appeared in Cyprus nine years ago, at the Medieval Castle of Paphos. She has performed the role on several European stages. The César-winning actress has worked with directors including François Truffaut, Michelangelo Antonioni, Franco Zeffirelli and Roman Polanski. In this piece she is almost alone before the audience, with the orchestra as her only interlocutor.
Cocktail with Fanny Ardant
The day before the performance, on Thursday October 1 at 2.30pm, the public can meet Ardant at the Crowne Plaza Limassol for ‘Cocktail with Fanny Ardant’. The informal afternoon event includes drinks and a conversation, moderated by independent journalist Katerina Gordeeva, known for her long-running interview project Skazhi Gordeevoy.
It opens with Opera Moments, a vocal tribute to Maria Callas by soprano Xenia Belolipetskaya, accompanied on piano by Zbigniew Maruska. The Callas tribute refers to one of Ardant’s stage roles, in Masterclass.
Cassandra is on Friday October 2 at 8pm.
Tickets are available through SoldOut Tickets.
