Wednesday 27 September 2017

Exhibition on 'Les Deux Orphelines' opens in Montreal

[Cliquez ici pour un billet en français sur l'expo]

Delegates and post-conference listeners who enjoyed Bérengère Levet's talk on nineteenth-century French melodrama Les deux orphelines (The Two Orphan Girls) at Blind Creations (listen again via our audio archive), will be interested to learn that Levet has curated an exhibition about the work which is showing at the University of Montreal until October 20th. (Practical details here). 

The tale of the two orphan sisters - one sighted, the other blind - has been retold and re-imagined in astonishing ways since its first performance in 1874. The exhibition explores the history of the work, the representations of blindness it has led to and its place in the genre of the popular melodrama more widely through more than 60 items (including first editions, postcards, drawings and other documents) as well as film clips and a 'reading corner'. 

For those not able to visit the exhibition in person, Levet has also provided links to some fascinating online resources:


A song from the melodrama:

Doru Monteanu sings "Ô ma tendre Musette" (2012)

An extract from the audio book (in French):

An English language adaptation:

Two comic songs (in French) which mention Les deux orphelines:


Extracts and images from a modern French musical adaptation: