As an aristocratic, athletic, intellectually trained young teenager, Gabriel is brought up exactly according to the model of the ideal man in Renaissance Italy.
He then learns that he is biologically a woman. His grandfather had Gabriel brought up as a man in order to manipulate the succession. When he worries that Gabriel might develop an interest in the opposite sex, he tells him the truth, because he doesn't want the dark secret to be revealed. But the headstrong Gabriel has other plans and discovers love. The character of Gabriel was conceived by the brilliant writer George Sand, who has her protagonist say: "My soul has no sex!". George Sand lived a polyamorous life and wrote with verve against the conventions of her time. She wore men's clothing and had love affairs with both men and women.
The tension between emancipation and love, freedom and fidelity was as topical in the 19th century as it is today and the stage version transcends genre and gender categories.
Premiere May 16, 2025
Further performances: May 18, 21, 24 and 29, June 10, 11, 12 and 15, 2025
