L’orangeraie, 2021

An opera about childhood and war.

Presented at the Monument National in Montreal and at the Le Diamant theater in Quebec City in the fall of 2021

A production of Chants Libres

Composer: Zad Moultaka
Librettist: Larry Tremblay
Director: Pauline Vaillancourt
Set design: Dominique Blain
Video design: Catherine Béliveau and Dominique Blain

Amed and Aziz are nine-year-old twins. They live with their parents in the orange grove that their paternal grandfather brought out of the desert. One night, a shell from the other side of the mountain falls on the grandparents’ house and kills them. Soulayed, the armed chief of a neighboring village, comes to ask Zahed to avenge the death of his parents: “revenge is the name of your grief”. He brings with him an explosive belt. One of the twins will have to wear it and go to the other side of the mountain to destroy the enemy’s camps. Zahed has to choose between Amed and Aziz who will become a kamikaze child. It is out of the question for him to choose Aziz. Aziz suffers from a fatal disease. He cannot sacrifice what has already been sacrificed. That would be an insult to God. It is Amed who will go. Tamara does not agree with her husband’s choice. Unbeknownst to her, she asks Amed to take his brother’s place. Thus, she will save one of her sons from death. The exchange between the two brothers takes place. But Amed, after the death of his brother as a martyr, is taken by remorse and reveals the truth to his father who immediately expels him from the house. Amed has to go into exile in America where he is welcomed by Dalimah, Tamara’s sister. Ten years later, Amed is training to be an actor. Mikaël, his teacher, has written a play for his students. He asks Amed to play the role of Sony, a child who is facing a mercenary. He has killed his parents and asks Sony to give him a reason not to spare him. Amed refuses to play this role, reminding him too much of his painful past. Mikaël insists. To justify his refusal, Amed reveals to him the true mission of his brother Aziz. Thanks to his aunt Dalimah, he learned that his brother was blown up in the middle of a hundred children. Amed leaves the play class and will not perform in the play. On opening night, Amed surprises everyone by appearing on stage near the end of the show. He addresses the mercenary. For a moment, he is Sony, Aziz, Amed. He has conquered the ghosts of his tragic past. He finally speaks of peace.