Where:
Boston Conservatory at Berklee Theater
31 Hemenway
Boston, MA 02115
Admission:
$Admission $25–30 advance / $30–35 day of show Discounted admission with Berklee ID Free–$5 advance / $5–10 day of show
Categories:
Music, Nightlife, Shows, University
Event website:
https://bostonconservatory.berklee.edu/events/voir-dire
The term “voir dire” comes from Old French: “voir” meaning speak, and “dire” meaning “truth.” Later adapted into legal terminology, it means “to speak the truth.”
With music by Matthew Peterson and libretto by Jason Zencka, Voir Dire is adapted from various court cases witnessed by the librettist during his time as a crime reporter in hidden, small-town America. This chamber opera, directed by Associate Professor David Gately and guest conducted by Viswa Subbaraman, takes place in a courtroom and plays out in a series of colorful and provocative vignettes that give audiences an insider’s look into the dark, uncomfortable, and often bizarre world of legal drama. Drug abuse, fractured families, economic precarity, and sexual violence collide with a justice system unequipped to account for the human element.
Voir Dire is “startlingly immediate and journalistic, as gripping as a great feature story and made memorable by the depth and texture of the music,” says Heidi Waleson of the Wall Street Journal.
Voir Dire is sung in English with titles presented.