Il va y avoir un opéra autour de Perelandra de C.S. Lewis
Il se jouera en juin 2009 à Oxford. C'est en fait la reprise de sa version originale créé dans les années 60, en trois actes.
Toutes les infos sont sur le site officiel du projet
Voici le début du synopsis :
ACT ONE
Scene 1: Ransom’s cottage
C.S. Lewis and Colin ‘Humphrey’ Havard, a doctor, arrive at the Worcestershire cottage of Elwin Ransom, a middle-aged philologist of Cambridge University (Opening). Lewis tells an unbelieving Humphrey that Ransom has for some time had dealings with Eldila, extraterrestrial creatures ‘remarkably like angels’, who rule over the nine planets. The Eldila guiding the eight non-tellurian planets obey the will of Maleldil, One Greater Than Them All; the Eldila ruling Earth, by contrast, are rebels, holding Earth under siege and cut off from communication with Deep Heaven. Some time ago, the non-tellurian Eldila brought Ransom to Venus or Perelandra to fulfil a mission; Lewis and Humphrey are here to assist him upon his return.
Ransom arrives in a glass casket, healthy but for a wounded heel. He fumbles for words to describe his journey to Perelandra, a new, Edenic world of floating islands inhabited by a new Adam and Eve, tempted by a new incarnation of the devil (How Shall I Describe Perelandra to You?). In a Trio, the three men express their recollections, wonder and doubt.
Scene 2: The cabin of Weston’s spaceship
The scene shifts back to the beginning of Random’s journey. Unbeknownst to Ransom, Edward Weston, a physicist of Cambridge University and inventor of the Weston spaceship, is also on the way to the Perelandra. While the Chorus recites his curriculum vitae, Weston communicates irritably with his colleague on Earth, insisting on his ambition of ‘complete domination this time’ (Edward Weston).
Scene 3: A floating island on Perelandra
Ransom has landed on water, and swum to an island rich in non-terrestrial flora and fauna, floating like skin on the water. A Lady, human in form but green and unclothed, greets him. Questioned, she explains that she and the King are the first and only of their race (My Spirit Praises Maleldil); they have been temporarily separated by the waves. Ransom declares that the parents of his race are dead, but finds it difficult to explain to the unfallen Lady how an event can be other than the joyfully received gift of Maleldil. He describes evil as the clinging to a past or imagined good in the face of a new gift—even the Lady, when she first saw Ransom, must have hoped he was her King, and could have chosen to be embittered by the disappointment. The Lady professes some anguish at these new thoughts, and Ransom prays to God to purify him, so that he may not taint Perelandra with the evil of his own world (Lord of all worlds, Maleldil, Father).
Weston arrives in a boat, heavily equipped with instruments and provisions. Ransom urges the Lady not to talk or listen to him, but she converses with him long enough to disclose that she and the King are forbidden to enter the fixed land of Perelandra. As she departs, Weston complains that Ransom is doing him an injustice, admitting that I Have Been Wrong in single-mindedly pursuing the aim of preserving the human race, but announcing that they are now fellow servants of God, that ‘pure Spirit, blind, inarticulate, yet thrusting ever upward’. Ransom objects that not every spirit is good, and the Christian God not impersonal, as Weston declares himself the ‘chosen vessel’ of the spiritual Force. The scene closes as Weston calls the force into his body and collapses in a fearful spasm.
ACT TWO
Scene 1: The island
Weston’s possession is marked by a mask, identical with his own face but devoid of expression. Weston attempts to persuade the Lady at least to imagine entering the fixed land. In a Trio, Ransom warns the Lady of the danger of Weston’s temptation to invent goods apart from Maleldil. But Weston’s description of the women of Earth, greater than the Lady in wisdom and independence, merely prompts the Lady to a hymn of praise for the unforeseen gift of having daughters who may once surpass her (How Beautiful is Maleldil, How Wonderful All His Works). As she lies down to sleep, the Chorus bursts into a triumphant Antiphon praising Maleldil and the goodness of his creation.
As Ransom and Weston prepare for the night, the Chorus comments that Now the Enemy has Gained Entry to Perelandra, and exhorts Ransom to trust in God.
Weston, who does not require sleep, attempts to wear his opponent down by inanely repeating Ransom, Ransom throughout the night. Lamented by the Chorus (Day and Night), he continues his attack on the Lady in Lady of Perelandra and I am Wiser than He.
Il se jouera en juin 2009 à Oxford. C'est en fait la reprise de sa version originale créé dans les années 60, en trois actes.
Toutes les infos sont sur le site officiel du projet
Voici le début du synopsis :
ACT ONE
Scene 1: Ransom’s cottage
C.S. Lewis and Colin ‘Humphrey’ Havard, a doctor, arrive at the Worcestershire cottage of Elwin Ransom, a middle-aged philologist of Cambridge University (Opening). Lewis tells an unbelieving Humphrey that Ransom has for some time had dealings with Eldila, extraterrestrial creatures ‘remarkably like angels’, who rule over the nine planets. The Eldila guiding the eight non-tellurian planets obey the will of Maleldil, One Greater Than Them All; the Eldila ruling Earth, by contrast, are rebels, holding Earth under siege and cut off from communication with Deep Heaven. Some time ago, the non-tellurian Eldila brought Ransom to Venus or Perelandra to fulfil a mission; Lewis and Humphrey are here to assist him upon his return.
Ransom arrives in a glass casket, healthy but for a wounded heel. He fumbles for words to describe his journey to Perelandra, a new, Edenic world of floating islands inhabited by a new Adam and Eve, tempted by a new incarnation of the devil (How Shall I Describe Perelandra to You?). In a Trio, the three men express their recollections, wonder and doubt.
Scene 2: The cabin of Weston’s spaceship
The scene shifts back to the beginning of Random’s journey. Unbeknownst to Ransom, Edward Weston, a physicist of Cambridge University and inventor of the Weston spaceship, is also on the way to the Perelandra. While the Chorus recites his curriculum vitae, Weston communicates irritably with his colleague on Earth, insisting on his ambition of ‘complete domination this time’ (Edward Weston).
Scene 3: A floating island on Perelandra
Ransom has landed on water, and swum to an island rich in non-terrestrial flora and fauna, floating like skin on the water. A Lady, human in form but green and unclothed, greets him. Questioned, she explains that she and the King are the first and only of their race (My Spirit Praises Maleldil); they have been temporarily separated by the waves. Ransom declares that the parents of his race are dead, but finds it difficult to explain to the unfallen Lady how an event can be other than the joyfully received gift of Maleldil. He describes evil as the clinging to a past or imagined good in the face of a new gift—even the Lady, when she first saw Ransom, must have hoped he was her King, and could have chosen to be embittered by the disappointment. The Lady professes some anguish at these new thoughts, and Ransom prays to God to purify him, so that he may not taint Perelandra with the evil of his own world (Lord of all worlds, Maleldil, Father).
Weston arrives in a boat, heavily equipped with instruments and provisions. Ransom urges the Lady not to talk or listen to him, but she converses with him long enough to disclose that she and the King are forbidden to enter the fixed land of Perelandra. As she departs, Weston complains that Ransom is doing him an injustice, admitting that I Have Been Wrong in single-mindedly pursuing the aim of preserving the human race, but announcing that they are now fellow servants of God, that ‘pure Spirit, blind, inarticulate, yet thrusting ever upward’. Ransom objects that not every spirit is good, and the Christian God not impersonal, as Weston declares himself the ‘chosen vessel’ of the spiritual Force. The scene closes as Weston calls the force into his body and collapses in a fearful spasm.
ACT TWO
Scene 1: The island
Weston’s possession is marked by a mask, identical with his own face but devoid of expression. Weston attempts to persuade the Lady at least to imagine entering the fixed land. In a Trio, Ransom warns the Lady of the danger of Weston’s temptation to invent goods apart from Maleldil. But Weston’s description of the women of Earth, greater than the Lady in wisdom and independence, merely prompts the Lady to a hymn of praise for the unforeseen gift of having daughters who may once surpass her (How Beautiful is Maleldil, How Wonderful All His Works). As she lies down to sleep, the Chorus bursts into a triumphant Antiphon praising Maleldil and the goodness of his creation.
As Ransom and Weston prepare for the night, the Chorus comments that Now the Enemy has Gained Entry to Perelandra, and exhorts Ransom to trust in God.
Weston, who does not require sleep, attempts to wear his opponent down by inanely repeating Ransom, Ransom throughout the night. Lamented by the Chorus (Day and Night), he continues his attack on the Lady in Lady of Perelandra and I am Wiser than He.
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