Duras Song

"I write books in a difficult place, that is to say between music and silence. I think it's something like that. We always miss something, this is forced, it is an obligation in life, I missed the music." - Marguerite Duras

A legendary figure of modern French literature and cinema, Marguerite Duras (1943-1995) was a feminist and an early critic of French colonization in Southeast Asia. This performance celebrates the profound musicality of Marguerite Duras' work in the form of a dialogue between Duras' texts and various musical pieces, exploring areas of tension and affinity. Created by Duke professor Anne-Gaelle Saliot, this unique experience occupies a space between theater and chamber music; Saliot's and Duras' words alternate with the music that populates Duras' texts and images, like the soundtracks of her films by Carlos d'Alessio, of whom she said: "His music surrounds me, inhabits me like the first minute I heard it."

This project premiered at the Philarmonie de Paris in June 2023, receiving wide acclaim.