SHAWANDY

Shawandy,

• it is a mythical country, Paradise lost, utopian dream,

modern Brigadoon, far, far from poverty,
• they are women, men with their loves, their sorrows, their sorrows and their joys, third world excluded from society,
• it is an Opera-Comedy which deals in a poetic, dreamlike and metaphorical mode with exclusion whatever its form or origin and with the hope of one day overcoming this exclusion.

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Characters
 

•Mabelle (Mezzo-soprano) Companion of Rex
• Rex (Bass) The leader of the Homeless community

• The Man (Tenor)
• The Guide (Baritone) The wise man who resolves conflicts

• Princess (Soprane) Companion of Goualeux

• Goualeux (Tenor) Poet

• Les Sans-Logis (Mixed choir and partly children’s choir)

• The Corps de ballet community (Act I and Interlude)

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Summary of the booklet

Act I

A man, The Man, finds refuge in an abandoned metro station. There he meets a community of homeless people whose lives take place alternately in reality, the metro station, and in an unreal, virtual world where they escape for a normal and ordinary life.

The Man suggests that they leave the metro station and go build a new life in Shawandy, the village of his childhood which is now abandoned. He comes up against Rex, their leader, who refuses to leave.

Within the community we also meet the couple Goualeux and Princesse, a sort of poet-artist, the Guide and Mabelle, Rex's companion. Between The Man, Mabelle and Rex the love triangle of classic tragedy will form. During the act, the characters emerge, the tragic elements are put in place.

 

Interlude

It is a series of paintings which illustrate the marriage of Princess and Goualeux. Here the action itself is suspended and only resumes in the second act.

All stages of the wedding will be experienced in a virtual world. Decor, music, rhythm are in contrast with reality which will appear even more tragic at the end of the interlude.

 

Act II
The Man succeeds in convincing the community to leave the metro station for Shawandy.
Mabelle and Rex will face each other.
During their confrontation Rex fatally wounds Mabelle.
The Guide then resolves to leave the metro station with

the homeless people.
The Man, Goualeux, Princess and the Homeless leave for Shawandy, utopia or dream of returning to Paradise Lost