Atys | Dawe & Jasmin

Together, they reimagine Lully and Quinault’s opera as a contemporary political drama, transposed to the United States in the 1980s. A coproduction of Ballet Opéra Pantomime (BOP), Opéra de Montréal, Les Boréades de Montréal, and UBU compagnie de création, this lyrical work weaves together dance, video, and baroque reverie to illuminate an enduring clash between love and power, and the tension between private desire and public image. In the early 1980s, in the upper echelons of American politics, Governor Atys conceals his impossible love for Sangaride, the young man betrothed to Senator Celenia. Cybele, who rules the country, hopes to get closer to Atys, with whom she is infatuated, by appointing him vice president. But when she discovers the secret passion that unites the two men, the president unleashes all her powers, even the most occult, to bring about their downfall and drive them to madness and death.