Keynote I – Rebekah Ahrendt

Peace and Justice on the Lyric Stage: Backstage with Lully’s Psyché

Rebekah Ahrendt (Utrecht University)

With live music performed by Musica Poetica, dir. Jörn Boysen, performing selections from the play Psyché, music by Jean-Baptiste Lully, texts by Molière, Pierre Corneille, Philippe Quinault, and Lully.

30 June 2026, 16:00
Lutheran Church
Haddingestraat 23 - Groningen

Abstract

The Hague, 1 September 1697. France withdraws its offer of peace with the Holy Roman Empire, throwing the expected conclusion of the Nine Years’ War into disarray. Unfortunately for the resident troupe of French actors and their orchestra, their peace-themed show—Psyché—is already in rehearsals. What to do? Their creative solutions reveal not only the checkered legal past of “Molière’s” play, but also the significance of the lyric stage in modeling social justice and harmonious international relations. Listening behind the scenes to the development of a soundtrack for peace, this talk draws out lessons relevant to today’s polycentric and polyphonic diplomatic landscape.