It was essential for us that this monodrama should be aimed first and foremost at a new audience and at young people, at audiences that were either geographically distant or couldn’t be reached: deprived areas, suburbs, council estates, countryside, prisons, etc.…

 We looked for a librettist in tune with the present day and, after approaching several of them, we were naturally drawn to Yann Verburgh, a young writer who’d produced all sorts of texts linked to homosexuality, often inspired by true stories all over the world.

We then tried to envision together the starting point of a libretto, based on the true story of a pop singer, a star in his own country, an authoritarian and reactionary state. He was “suspected of being a homosexual” and disappeared in unexplained circumstances. This tragic occurrence could happen again. Homophobic hate incidents have been on the rise these last years in France, with 1870 victims of homophobic offenses in 2019, says Interior Ministry.

 This grounding in the here and now led us to composer Diana Soh whose qualities in writing music which verges on real theatre and her ability to engage musicians’ bodies, whether they be singers or instrumentalists I admire. Thus together with this team, author Yann Verburgh, composer Diana Soh, director Richard Brunel and dramaturge Youness Anzane, I eventually took the plunge, at last getting closer to achieving the monodrama I’d been dreaming of.

Benjamin Alunni

World creation
6 November 2021

7.9.10.12.13.16.18 November

Théâtre du Point du jour
Opéra de Lyon

The Confluence{s} project explores with unprecedented depth the various facets of Jewish cultures, through the concept of “Mélodie française”. This recital is the fruit of research into little-known or under-appreciated repertoires; it is the result of a creative process combining the folkloric melodies of Israel’s pioneers, pieces from a classical repertory, and contemporary music.

We owe these works – sung in French, Hebrew, Aramaic, or Yiddish – as much to famous composers as to authors, Jewish and non-Jewish, men and women, often unknown or forgotten. These works, destined to the concert, deliver pieces of our history.

Confluence{s} is an experiment, a dialogue undertaken in four languages, caught between tradition and modernity, Francophonia and Jewishness. It is the first time anyone has proposed a recital of melodies whose program is interwoven with Jewish culture. The musical heritage presented here spans from the 20th century to the present day.