Le disilluse

The play opens with a self‑aware stage manager who warns the audience that what follows is less a fairy‑tale than a mischievous salon game. He teases us with the promise of improvised verses, puppet‑like characters, and a satirical look at love, gender roles, and the pretensions of society. The tone feels both playful and slightly conspiratorial, as if the listeners are being let in on a private joke.

We are then led into a sun‑drenched countryside dotted with tangled vines, mossy stones and a distant, golden castle that shimmers in a rose‑tinged haze. Here a group of ethereal girls, led by the wistful Clea, drift through the meadow, chanting a languid anthem of vanished hopes and broken promises. Their delicate dresses and flower‑crowned hair create a dream‑like tableau, while the repeated refrain of “Disilluse” hints at a collective disillusion with romance and the ideal of the perfect union. As Clea recalls an old lullaby, the listener senses the tension between nostalgic yearning and the bitter awareness that love may be an illusion.