Sylvie Meyer, “an ordinary woman” as Nina Bouraoui says, gave her name to the novel this show was adapted from. Sylvie has fulfilled the expectations set by her class for 53 years; her duties as a wife, mother and employee are seemingly the core of her whole identity. Then one day, one of her boss’ requests stir up a storm within her, and the barriers erected for years break, leading to a violent yet liberating gesture. Sebastian Rivas, the co-director of GRAME, a French National Center for Musical Creation, and of the Biennale des Musiques Exploratoires, was chosen by Richard Brunel to write the music. To do so, Rivas leaned on the heroine’s social context. The employees of her team, who Sylvie fondly refers to as “her bees”, are embodied by ten musicians with a vocal component, while a baritone plays all the men in Sylvie’s life. Sylvie’s character unfolds through her speaking voice, which often includes musical fragments, alliterations, symmetry and echoes, and her mezzo-soprano singing voice. The whole piece is supported by microphones, recordings, amplification, digital techniques, all gathered at the service of show quality.
