
"Tiphaine Raffier offers a version of Dialogues of the Carmelites that is as fervent as it is deliberately desacralized. The body, the nerves, the flesh find their full expression. It is this concrete, physical, and human dimension that makes her work so utterly captivating and moving.
A tragic and little-known episode of the French Revolution, the true story of a religious community guillotined during the Terror inspired the writer Georges Bernanos to create the character of Blanche de la Force, an unwilling heroine of this drama. Blanche wants to enter a convent, leave her family, break with her predetermined life, and throw herself into the unknown, taking the risk of a total self-sacrifice.
With this powerful and moving work, playwright Tiphaine Raffier makes a striking entrance into the world of opera. She chooses to present Francis Poulenc's masterpiece in its most radical and contemporary form, recounting how Blanche's courage gradually merges with that of the entire community as they march toward the guillotine in one of the most devastating scenes in the entire operatic repertoire.
Catherine was Movement Collaborator on this production, providing gestural sequences and movement direction throughout the opera, and choreography for the final death scene.
The final scene, one of the most intense ever staged, begins in a rain evoking the water of baptism. The sisters dance, connected to one another. With each sound of the guillotine, a sister collapses into the water.
Damien Dutilleul, Olyrix.com
DIALOGUES DES CARMELITES
Produced by Opera Orchestra Normandy Rouen Co-produced by Nancy-Lorraine National Opera
Composer
Francis Poulenc
Conductor
Ben Glassberg
Stage Director
Tiffaine Raffier
Movement Collaborator
Catherine Galasso
Dramaturge
Eddy Garaudel
Set Design
Hélène Jourdan
Costume Design
Caroline Tavernier
Lighting Design
Kelig Le Bars
Video Design
Nicolas Morgan
Principals
Blanche de La Force Hélène Carpentier
Le Marquis de La Force / Le Geôlier Jean-Fernand Setti
Le Chevalier de La Force Julien Henric
L’Aumônier du Carmel François Rougier
Madame de Croissy Lucile Richardot
Madame Lidoine Axelle Fanyo
Mère Marie Eugénie Joneau
Sœur Constance Emy Gazeilles
Mère Jeanne Aurélia Legay
Production premiere
January-February 2025
Revivals
January-February 2026, Opéra national de Nancy-Lorraine
Photos above
by Caroline Doutre
Support
Produced by Opera Orchestra Normandy Rouen
Co-produced by Nancy-Lorraine National Opera













