|  Author | Topic: Avignon Off 2011 (Read 621 times) |
kerouac2
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|  | Avignon Off 2011
« Thread Started on Jul 9, 2011, 8:03pm » | ![[Quote]](http://images.proboards.com/buttons/quote.gif "[Quote]") |
Day 0 -- July 7
Arrived in the city. The Off begins tomorrow. I got my official card and programme and watched a bit of the Off parade of performers on the main boulevard. That was all for today.
Day 1 -- July 8
The first day of the Off is a time of indecision and indulgence. All of the performers will be presenting their shows for the very first time to very few people in most cases. They will trip over the text, they will miss their marks. But I have been a spectator on the very first day twice before, and I know that I will support them as best I can, as will the other spectators (most of whom will be invited guests). So, here we go, and the morning is the most difficult time for everybody, because it is the worst time for any sort of show, and it is given to newcomers and people who have no influence in the business.
The performance periods are bought by the theatre companies at variable prices, and it is up to them to make money if possible -- they must do the ticket sales, the set up and removal of the decor, the lighting and the cleaning -- and of course the performance, usually within a 90 minute period.
10:00 Théâtre Laurette
6 spectators on bleachers, small theatre, 2 actors
Play: Jour d'Eté (Summer Day) by Slawomir Mrozek
For a Polish play, the theme seemed extremely Romanian to me. A middle-aged man is trying to commit suicide when he is interrupted by the arrival of a handsome young man who pays no attention to him.
When conversation is engaged, both are annoyed. The older man wants to kill himself because he has never succeeded in life. In love, work or anything else, he is a failure. The younger man finds this ridiculous, because he has always succeeded. Nothing is a challenge and he gets everything he wants. He came to the same place to kill himself.
They are jealous of each other: the older man of the success of the younger one, and the younger man because at least the older man has things to strive for.
The woman arrives, inevitably. She is attracted to both of them for completely different reasons. They each try to seduce her for completely different reasons. Each pretends that the other should take her, but each is annoyed the moment her attention goes to the other one.
Nobody dies, but nobody is happy. Life appears to be worth living anyway.
verdict: pretty good
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12:00 Le Palace
25 spectators in normal seats, cinema, 1 man show
Play: Baptiste Lecaplain, young stand up comedian
The temporarily coverted cinemas always go for the easiest shows, crowd pleasing comedies, magicians or stand up comics. I nevertheless try to see at least one such spectacle each year, made palatable by the fact that these people are usually playing in Paris for something like 35€ and I can see them in Avignon for 12€.
This guy was not unpleasant. I see his posters in the metro all the time, so I know that his success is growing. The stand up genre does not particularly attract me, and I am the absolutely anathema of the performers since I never laugh, even when they are very funny. When I am sitting very close to the front, as I obviously was in this 200 seat cinema, and I am afraid that I can be seen from the stage, I try to simulate laughter to be polite, but usually I forget.
The routine was the normal "modern life" routine jumping from subject to subject, but poor Baptiste was clearly destabilized because 1) like most stand-up comics he asks things like "how many people out there are single?" but it really falls flat in an empty house and 2) he has never performed at noon in his entire life and it was very difficult to adjust. He kept saying "tonight" because it came out automatically, and most of the time he didn't even catch himself. Other than that, his routine was no worse than any other such person.
I suffered for him as I have suffered for every single daytime stand-up comedian that I have seen over the years. The semi-stars get to perform at night to full houses and it is probably great, but I want to help these new people stuck in the early slot.
verdict: passing grade
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14:00 Théâtre de l'Etincelle
15 spectators on plastic seats, small theatre, 2 actors
Play: Les Beautés Inutiles (Useless Beauties)
This was my first nod to classic texts, which I usually save for later. The play was based on several short stories by Guy de Maupassant, and it was beautifully done, although the actress stumbled over her text several times. Normal for a first performance. Maupassant was a great writer, so transposing his words to the stage is pretty easy -- stories of adultery, mistruths, secrets, usually for futile reasons and which always turn against the perpetrators.
One of the tragic tales was about a woman who borrows a diamond necklace from a wealthy friend to go to a fancy party for once in her life. She loses the necklace during the party (actually she threw it at me and I had to catch it), and she and her husband have to buy a replacement since they are mortified. They go deeply in debt, move into a hovel, do terrible exhausting jobs and it takes them 10 years to pay it off. Naturally, they have broken all contact with everybody that they know because they are so ashamed. They age twice as fast and look like shit. But one day, the woman runs into her former friend on the street who doesn't recognize her until she says who she is. "You look like shit," says her friend. She explains the tragic loss of the necklace and the difficulty of paying off the replacement. Anybody who has read O. Henry obviously knows that the final line is "but that necklace was a worthless fake."
It wasn't the intrigues that made this play worth it but the quality of the text.
verdict: quite good
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Obviously there was no way to keep up this rhythm, so I went back to the hotel for a nap. I had decided to see a late play in the suburb of Villeneuve-lès-Avignon where I had been cruelly rejected last year for not reserving ahead of time. Most of the plays in Villeneuve are performed by itinerant groups in tents or outdoors or in places like barns. I love it.
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21:15 Colline des Mourgues
40 spectators, outdoor amphitheatre, 6 actors
Play: La Seconde Surprise de l'Amour (The Second Surprise of Love) by Marivaux, additions by Sophie Calle
I had been to this place once before. It's on a hill above Villeneuve and access is remarkably complicated with a very bad rocky path, far worse after the spectacle because you have to go back down in total darkness, because nothing is lit at all.
Anyway, the play was absolutely fantastic, but Marivaux usually is. The language is so incredibly delightful and remains 100% accessible almost 300 years later.
The play was performed in a sort of ambiguous time zone with the main characters starting out in period costume but some of the others almost contemporary. The set consisted of a structure of individual glass-fronted bathroom booths to which non performing characters retired when they were not in the scene.
As for the intrigue, it concerns a young woman in despair because her beloved husband died after one month of marriage. She is absolutely reveling in her unhappiness, to the disdain of her devoted servant. Meanwhile, the inevitable young man is in despair because he got dumped by his girlfriend and is unsuccessful at committing suicide, to the disdain of his faithful manservant. Obviously, the servants do things to set them up with each other, making lots of mistakes, and there is the count would would like to marry the woman and also the philosophy teacher who is in charge of the woman's reading matter (he thinks that any book that doesn't refer to Seneca is worthless contemporary pap).
As for the Sophie Calle additions, since she is a specialist on despair and unhappiness, there were recorded interludes of strange desperate voices, which didn't add a thing to Marivaux but did not at all ruin the ambience either.
In any case, everybody I overheard leaving the hill was saying, "I absolutely have to read that play."
verdict: fantastic
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kerouac2
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| | Re: Avignon Off 2011
« Reply #1 on Jul 10, 2011, 5:07am » | |
Day 2 - July 9
I overslept since I didn't get to bed before about 1:30, but I finally managed to have breakfast and drag myself into town to wake up.
11:00 Collège de la Salle - Théatre du Gymnase
9 spectators on chairs meant for children age 3-10, gothic chapel converted into school gym, 2 actors
Play: Du pain plein les poches (Pockets Full of Bread) by Matei Visniec
When I went to buy my ticket, I was told "today is free" which was nice. Romanian play by a playwright who clearly would like to be Beckett instead of himself. I looked him up and saw that I have seen other plays of his in the past, though.
Two men meet beside a well. There is a dog trapped at the bottom of the well, but he has been fed regularly by people throwing pieces of bread into the hole. Nobody really makes any plans for hoisting the dog out, and you can hear barking and whining from time to time.
The two men discourse as if they were waiting for Godot, about what they could do, or not, and why, or why not. Each claims to have a more important relationship with the dog than the other, although nobody has ever even seen the dog, and lately the dog has been ignoring the bread. Is he even still alive?
As the play ends, pieces of bread start falling from a well hole up on the ceiling, because we are all dogs trapped at the bottom of a well.
verdict: passing grade, but I am not a fan of heavy symbolism
12:30 Théâtre de l'Esperluette
9 spectators, storage room with chairs, 1 actor
Play: Ben: Dealer avec la réalité (Ben: Dealing with Reality) by Charlotte Gosselin
At age 15, the guidance counselor asked Ben what he wanted to do with his life, but he didn't know what to say.
Anyway, today he is a delivery boy for Bama Pizza, but he didn't go to work. He's there with his mobylette with the delivery box on the back, and he has ridden to the end of the world to ask himself questions about love, the absurdity of the world and everything else.
One thing that was excellent about this play was the imaginative use of the mobylette and its accessories. The actor pulled out all sorts of surprise objects as needed, and there was one poetic scene where he covers the mobylette for the night and snuggles up next to it to sleep. The cover is actually transparent gauze and little white bulbs light up at random all over the mobylette, turning the scene into a night full of stars.
One thing that was disturbing about the play was that Ben was played by the author, who is obviously not a boy, as much as she swaggered in her baggy jeans and crusty jacket. I just couldn't get over this discrepancy, but the clever ending covered this point. While Ben worries about existence and the future, he is inexorably drawn down a tunnel that he cannot resist. The scene goes dark and a nurse's voice is heard. "Madame, you have just given birth to a marvelous baby girl!"
And Ben's final reaction: "What the fuck?"
verdict: good
15:00 Théâtre de l'Atelier 44
20 spectators (incl. 10 children), small theatre in converted shop, 2 puppeteers
play: Le fabuleux voyage de Monsieur Nostok (The Fabulous Trip of Mr. Nostok) by Patrice Seiler
This was put on by a Romanian company although the play was written by a French author, with the two puppeteers completely visible at all times as they manipulated the objects in front of them, and they spoke the text in charmingly accented French as they performed.
Mr. Nostoc ends up on a planet completely polluted by the companies owned by Mr. Business. He sets up a more pleasant environment among the broken robots and other junk, but Mr. Business opposes everything he does. True love and his continued poetic existence triumph anyway.
Frankly, I never got into this story at all because it was like watching two kids playing with junk. But the two performers were so charming and so much into what they were doing that it made it more palatable. Nevertheless, I was bored.
verdict: not good
I gave myself the rest of the day off from the festival.
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kerouac2
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| | Re: Avignon Off 2011
« Reply #2 on Jul 15, 2011, 6:07pm » | |
Day 3 - July 10
11:00 Espace Roseau
25 spectators, 11 actors, school gym hidden behind mansion
play: Le Mariage de Figaro
After the fabulous "Second Surprise of Love," I found myself inexorably drawn to more classic plays, because really, if a play has been around for 300 years, there must be a reason, right?
It was indeed excellent, but 11 actors need more space than the locale offered. Figaro himself was a magnificent scoundrel, leaving the the other characters behind in the dust. Nevertheless, Beaumarchais did not give me the same desire to reread his work as Marivaux did.
verdict: honorable effort
14:00 Salle Roquille
12 spectators, 2 dansers, 1 musician, former boutique?
spectacle: Intemporel
I don't usually go to the dance programs of Avignon, but I decided that I needed to broaden my horizons, so this creation from Québec drew me in. No story of course, but a man and a woman interacting on the theme of Narcissus and Echo. The dancing was hypnotic and not boring, but the music was the best. The musician played acoustic guitar, flute, African drums and wooden pipe.
verdict: good
15:25 Le Grenier a Sel
80+ spectators, 6 actors, former grandiose salt warehouse
play: Le Voyage d'Alice en Suisse (The Voyage of Alice in Switzerland)
This play is one that will sell out every day soon, since there are only 100 seats. It's a Swiss play by rising playwright Lukas Bärfuss and it is about euthanasia, which is semi-tolerated in Switzerland. Alice is dying and wants to die with dignity. The doctor is skirting the law with integrity, taking precautions, being arrested regularly, and allowing his patients to change their mind until the last moment.
It is a very funny play with lots of funny moments, notably the humor of people who change their mind at the last minute. Alice is not very funny, though, and she has to deal with her mother as well. The doctor refuses to validate her decision until she has informed her mother and obtained her understanding.
It strange how such a funny play can be so gut-wrenching.
verdict: excellent
21:45 Théâtre de l'Alizé
17 spectators, 4 actors, 1 musician, converted car repair garage
play: Le Chant du Dire-Dire (The Song of Dire-Dire)
I am prepared to bet that this will become another success of the Off. 3 men and a woman were raised as brothers and sister in a loving adopted family. Their parents having been killed in a thunderstorm, they retreat from the world and live in rural solitude.
As a young adult, the woman leaves the group to become a singer in the city, but she returns one year later, catatonic.
That's about all I can explain about this magical, mystical story, which was really remarkable. One of the instruments played by the musician was something that I have never seen before, and the documentation says that it is a glass harmonica. It has cylinders that spin in water in a conical shape, and the spinning is done by a pedal like an old-fashioned sewing machine.
![[image]](http://i450.photobucket.com/albums/qq228/kerouac2/dailylife/glass.jpg "[image]")
Anyway, the play ends with a terrific thunderstorm and those of us in the front row got a bit wet.
verdict: excellent
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bixaorellana
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| | Re: Avignon Off 2011
« Reply #3 on Jul 15, 2011, 6:21pm » | |
This thread is a real treat, Kerouac. You really convey the excited buzz of being there and the pleasurable dithering over the choices. Your pithy précis give each play its due and make me wish I could be there, enjoying the immediacy of live theater.
That photograph is exquisite.
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kerouac2
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| | Re: Avignon Off 2011
« Reply #4 on Jul 16, 2011, 8:35pm » | |
Day 4 - July 11
10:30 Les Ateliers d'Amphoux
22 spectators, 10 actors, former boutique
Play: L'Emission de Télévision (The TV Show)
I went to this because I was skillfully "tracted" for it (I think I explained tracting in last year's report.). It seemed like it might be a light comedy, but actually it was not that at all. It was about an investigative television program that had recruited someone to talk about unemployment. But it turned out that they had instead selected a different person to talk about his success at starting a new career. The person selected is mysteriously killed. Who killed him and why?
verdict: honorable effort
13:10 Collège de la Salle
14 spectators, 4 actors, 1 narrator, 1 musician, high school activity room
Play: Cooking a Dream
This was part of the Beijing Fringe Festival, a new partner of the Avignon Off. It was a play from 1200 years ago, so not particularly revolutionary. A woman narrator explained certain things but otherwise there were "overtitles" projected on an overhead bar to translate the dialogue.
At the beginning of the play, millet was rinsed again and again to make it appropriate for cooking. It was then placed in a rice cooker so that it could be served at the end of the play.
The story was about a travelling student who spends the night in an inn and converses with a wise old man. They both sleep in simple conditions. The student awakes the next morning and goes on to great things. He becomes a military officer and is later promoted to regional governor and then head of the entire province before going on to conquer new territories. But in spite of his power, there is no happiness because he has strayed from his ideals. Each progression of his status is portrayed by more and more elaborate costumes, mostly red and gold of course.
After all of these events, the student awakes, because it was all an awful dream. But the millet is cooked and it is time for breakfast.
The millet was served to us spectators, and I should mention that we had also been offered tea before the play. The Chinese know how to receive their guests.
The main actor reappeared wearing a T-shirt with the slogan "I don't need sex because the government fucks me every day." 'm not sure if this theatrical company is fully supervised by the authorities.
verdict: good, and a particularly interesting view of Chinese culture
15:45 Théâtre du Roi René
44 spectators, 8 actors, gothic chapel
Play: Le Prince Travesti (The Prince in Disguise) by Marivaux
Here I go again with another classic play. This concerns (obviously) a prince looking for love but not under his normal identity. His faithful servant Harlequin takes charge as usual with all sorts of ruses and lies. I have to admit that Harlequin is probably the most magnificent theatrical character ever invented and the actor given that role is generally stunning, as he was this time as well.
Unfortunately, the play did not enthrall me as much as the outdoor Marivaux play, so I was a bit disappointed even though the performances were excellent. I pretty much decided that this would be my last play of the festival, and it was.
verdict: pretty good
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