1Shell Shock was created for the commemorations of the centenary of the First World War. Aiming to give an account of the violence of the conflict, the composer, Nicolas Lens, chose to mark the consequences of the moments experienced on the front lines, among gas and exploding shells. If the classic evocations (narratives, testimonies, photographs) of soldiers who experienced the trenches and of the Yser plains give an insight into the nature of the conflict and the intensity of the suffering that was endured, this Requiem offers people who were deeply affected, the crippled, the “broken faced” and the traumatized alike, a significant tribute in the rare form of an opera which includes songs, recitatives, and choreography. This show gives a challenging account of the consequences of all modern conflicts, reminding those who are alive that hell, in time and in space, is never very far away.

2The interpretation of the orchestra and the symphonic chorus of La Monnaie, directed by Koen Kessels and assisted by Martino Faggiani, translate the nature of the hostilities as well as the fear these generated among those who faced them. The musical compositions, the laments of the victims, express at best the implacable violence of the combats and the series of tragedies. Let us thank Claron Mc Fadden, Sara Fulgoni, Gerald Thompson, Ed Lyon and Mark S. Doss, soprano, mezzo, tenor and countertenor, respectively, for their efforts to make the outrageous nature of war be heard. The great artillery which accompanies them was undoubtedly brought together to perfect their attempt to raise awareness once and for all among both people and gods about the excessive abuses of mankind. Consider no less: at the opening of the show, seventy-one musicians packed into the pit support forty singers perched at the balconies, thus dominating the stage and the first rows.

3Well-structured, the show asserts itself through a subtle rhetoric which also owes its success to the staging and the choreography by Sidi Larbi Charkaoui and assisted by Vebjorn Sundby. The moving figures never lack elegance and perfectly accentuate the victims’ litanies which clamour their misfortune. Whether they crawl along the trenches or receive an operation under a country hospital tent, their expressions, paradoxically often harmonious, build awareness of how the events were woven together. Certain scenes, in a sepulchral silence, sow the seeds of trouble, astonishment and perplexity, especially when they conclude with the shape of a “sculpture” fixing the soldiers in place, still heroic, in the bronze of a monument to the dead.

4The traumas consecutive to the experience of the front constitute, as we have seen, the essence of the libretto. On this point, we may payspecial tribute to Nick Cave’s compositions – the lyrics. True to himself and to the creations for which he is known, he is obviously asserting himself in an inimitable style as an explorer of the human soul, particularly perceptive and aware. The twelve songs (canti), serious and heartrending, which delineate the perception of hell as the “witnesses” lived it, are incredibly beautiful. The first victim to appear on stage is a “colonial” soldier, a Senegalese. He expresses his rage and his feeling of having been dragged into this ordeal, before being joined onstage by a French soldier. Their despair and their incomprehension, combined with their bewilderment of being there, on this battlefield where man’s folly plays out, gives goose bumps. The melopoeia, with a truly dramatic dimension, rise as the canti succeed each other, with the nurse, the deserter, the survivor, the missing, the unknown soldier, the mother, the orphans, the angel of death, and other victims:

A bullet separates itself from the rest
And enters the back of my head
A painless punch, angled through the brain
No God
No God
beneath the battle ground
the silent battle ground
No one ever finds us
Not now
Not then
Not ever
No God

5Pictures of the battles are at various moments projected on a giant screen or on silhouette-target- cut-outs placed on the stage that has been transformed into a battle field. Does one still feel alive when surrounded by bodies torn to pieces? No one seems able to exert their difference. What is this carnage, why such insanity? Was it imaginable? Should one be the same? Everyone enrols in the fighting order to defend the homeland and to lower the risk of ending up the enemy’s slave. If a spirit of survival arises before it is too late, it is however useless to consider fleeing, except if it is to turn your own back to your side. The deserter indeed narrates his family’s reaction after finding them again. They consider him a scared slacker and traitor to the nation, and send him back to his superiors, who execute him to serve as an example. The traumatized, wounded and delirious who are evacuated from the front were not treated any better. Is their physical state not a sign of their weakness?

6Of course, on a positive note, the camaraderie among soldiers proved to be strong and brought a real sense of comfort. Out of self-respect and respect of others, one was to remain courageous, regardless of what happened. Fear, an attitude which the high officers of the belligerent armies were not to encounter anymore, not one bit during the course of their career, was above all to be tamed. Sitting together, observing the scene from their seats, side by side over three superimposed rows as angels settled on a cloud, to what could such killing unfolding before their own eyes possibly inspire them?

7The show presents itself, of course, as an ode to peace. It shows and brings light to the strident cry of the victims of the trenches and the death plains. Determined and lively despite the complaints, the songs and cries clash together. Shock Shelter, where voices and bodies move to the sound of the melodies punctuate the explosions. Everyone knows, unless saved by a miracle, that he will be reduced to the state of wreckage, blindness, deafness, weakness, even mushiness, but no one can really believe this, for man is inhabited by hope.

8Eugénio Szwarcer’s sets, both sober and grotesque, are not outdone, as shown by an undulating three-storey high construction covering the top of the set. It allows the soldiers the possibility of falling as if hurtling from the sky as people fell on the front. It was also used, as we have mentioned, to seat the belligerent senior general staff, dressed with their ranks’ attire (drawn by stylist Khanh Lethanh). If twice they dominate the theatre of operation from their position, they also impose themselves before the audience, forming in some way a mirror. Yet they will not identify with each other. Grotesque in appearance, these senior generals have nothing to offer the audience, more at ease listening to their victims than their own monstrous fatuity. Let’s not forget that the generals of the various armies which are present, in the context of the show, watch together the theatre of operations in silence (so without judgement). Thinking of Europe, as a sign of a reconciliation turned toward a more serene future, such a supranational point of view is possible or even necessary to the present of today. If this Requiem pays tribute to all 14-18 victims (and all wars in general), it nevertheless instils the necessity of an educated, alert, vigilant and especially resistant memory, concerning warmongers’ sirens that are blind to the suffering of those who serve them.