Mademoiselle de Maupin, acclaimed at the Paris Opera during the reign of Louis XIV, was the first contralto to obtain a leading role on stage. A talented fencer, she frequented both the grand salons of Paris and the taverns. She defied the conventions of her time, both with her voice and her life choices.
To unravel the thread of a life and an art form, a singer, a director and two instrumentalists embark on a quest with multiple voices. Together, they search, seek, dissect and build. Little by little, before the audience’s eyes, a rehearsal in progress takes shape, a performance in the making.
Alternating between baroque arias accompanied by harpsichord and viola da gamba, spoken theatre scenes and cabaret songs, the artists reflect and confront each other – literally and figuratively – through verbal jousts.
The past converses with the present.
Some voices resonate across the centuries. And sometimes, they respond to one another.