Photo Socrates is a chamber-opera written, composed, and produced by Klara du Plessis and Clio Montrey, and performed as artwork in a gallery space. Conceived of as a futuristic revision of two of Plato’s famous, or infamous, affirmations—that humans were originally double entities with a face and set of limbs on either side of the human body; that poetry is not ethical, philosophical, or practical, and therefore banished from the ideal city or Republic—the plot follows Socrates as a woman, a new balance between the poles of utter abstraction and physicality. Femme Fatale is rendered invisible by the wooing of the Cameras, who delayer her presence one photograph at a time. Socrates’ insistence on voicing her opinions leads to her tragic execution. Yet her death is not in vain. By the end, the Cameras manipulate their muteness into mutiny against Femme Fatale, expressing themselves through the mere images they have become. The title Photo Socrates thus concludes with the partial optimism of the word “photo” as an allusion to light, regaining balance through creative expression.

Libretto: Klara du Plessis
Composition: Clio Montrey
Costumes: Halina Montrey

Femme Fatale: Anne Wieben
Socrates: Allegra Giagu
Camera 1: Marc-Antoine d'Aragon
Camera 2: Victor Hugo Sánchez Don

Violin 1: Benjamin Marquise Gilmore
Violin 2: Christabel Lin
Viola: Magdalena Bernhard
Violoncello: Loukia Loulaki
Toy piano: Clio Montrey

Stage assistance | Camera 3: Julija Karakorska
Rehearsal pianist: Aki Moriya

Performed at Nikki Bogart Verein, Vienna, 26 October 2012