Galla Placidia

Galla Placidia. The story of a Late Antiquity Roman empress. The story of a declining Roman empire too, and the renewing social and geopolitical model which later will give birth to medieval Europe. However, as a political women and pious Christian, Galla Placidia is here as much a historical figure and a contemporary expression. She is the main character of an opera-in-progress, next to her daughter Honoria (second singer) and a third-party character, the “Grammarian Orphan” (played by an actress), ambiguously both statue, immemorial oracle and keeper of an ancient established order soon to disappear.
Here, the Trinitarian reference coincides with the proceeding of the work. No real plot but rather three different scenes, three different points of view upon a same situation : three women are gathering on the island of Lampedusa to hold a great council. This crepuscular meeting is about to decide the future of the entire world. Since the matter is important : barbarian kingdoms are flourishing everywhere, Rome does not control its territories any longer, and the new religion must supplant ancient paganism. This new order is adjudged by Galla Placidia in the course of a both lyrical and theatrical monolog.
During the whole piece, the temporality of action remains purposely unclear. Are we in this Fifth-Century, or at the present time, during this Late Antiquity or today ? Actually both at the same time, and the text, full of historical, philosophical and metaphorical references, contributes and supports, along with the music, this ambiguity while unifying them with each other, whereas the staging reveals little by little each character’s psychology.