THÉÂTRE
PETER VERHELST / OSCAR VAN ROMPAY
MIKA MYLLYAHO / ATELIER JEAN VILAR
Oscar Van Rompay est comédien. Il partage sa vie entre la Belgique et le Kenya où il gère une plantation. Africa est son histoire mise en mots et en scène par l’écrivain Peter Verhelst. À l’image de cette vie partagée entre deux territoires, le spectacle est divisé en deux parties, la première où le comédien se fait Africain, parle swahili, se grime, et la seconde où il redevient l’Européen, perdu dans une Afrique qui lui échappe. Un spectacle saisissant sur le rêve d’un continent fantasmé et les écueils d’une mondialisation outrancière qui détruit toutes notions éthiques et semblants d’authenticité dans les relations humaines.
Jean-Claude Idée met en scène la pièce de l’auteur finlandais Mika Myllyaho. Abordant avec ironie et humour les vies de trois femmes d’aujourd’hui qui se divisent entre responsabilités familiales, rythmes intensifs professionnels, vies affectives houleuses, la pièce s’inscrit dans une trilogie (avec Panique et Harmonie). Pour incarner cette fresque théâtrale du quotidien, les trois comédiennes Isabelle Paternotte, Stéphanie Van Vyve et Nathalie Willame éblouissent de fraîcheur, de vérité. Un théâtre qui titille nos vécus avec brio.
AFRICA
CHAOS
CLAUDEL’S SONGS AND WORDS INTERTWINE AND ARE CONVEYED TO THE AUDIENCE BY EXCEPTIONAL ACTORS WHOSE PERFORMANCES ARE ALREADY MAKING THEIR MARK ON THE HISTORY OF THIS WORK.
Photos : Kurt van der Elst, Véronique Vercheval
P
aul Claudel’s most emblematic dramatic work, L’annonce faite à Marie, which was originally entitled La jeune fille Violaine, was written in 1911. Claudel, a mystical author with close links to the Church, was long ignored as an author in France. Nowadays, though, he is acknowledged as one of the country’s greatest authors, with a body of work comprising both prose, plays, poetry and exegetic texts. Louis Jouvet staged L’annonce faite à Marie in 1942 in Rio de Janeiro – during his long tour of South America from 1941 to 1945. Today, Yves Beaunesne, the director of Comédie Poitou-Charentes, working in partnership with Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord, lends a new lease of life to this “mystery in four acts and a prologue.” L’annonce faite à Marie tells the story of a family of rich peasants from the Champagne district, when the father goes on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, culminating in divine intercession in the midst of a rivalry in love between two sisters, Mara and Violaine. In the prologue, Mara sees her sister Violaine kiss their guest, Pierre de Craon, who is suffering from leprosy, upon his departure. Mara then manipulates their neighbour Jacques Hury, who is betrothed to Violaine, and seduces him. Having caught leprosy, Violaine is confined to a lepers’ colony. Mara becomes pregnant but her child dies. It is then that Violaine, who is dying, comes to the aid of her sister, by giving life back to the child. Yves Beaunesne tackles what Claudel describes as “an opera of words” using the Camille Rocailleux’s sound track, which is performed directly on stage. The performance of the actors transcends mere part acting, incarnating the carnal and mystic passion which pervades this entire work.
Oscar Van Rompay is an actor who divides his life between Belgium and Kenya, where he manages a plantation. Africa is his story, put into words and on stage by writer Peter Verhelst. To reflect this life split between two such radically different territories, the show is divided into two parts: in the first, the actor tries to make himself appear African, speaking Swahili, disguising himself; in the second, he turns back into the epitome of a European lost in an Africa which he can never grasp. This is a fascinating show about people’s illusions of a fantastic and phantasmal continent and the pitfalls of runaway globalisation which wrecks all notions of ethics and semblances of authenticity in human relations.
Jean-Claude Idée stages this play by the Finnish author Mika Myllyaho. Delving with irony and humour into the lives of three contemporary women who spend their days tending to their family duties, pursuing their intensive careers and dealing with stormy relationships, the play forms part of a trilogy (together with Panic and Harmony). Embodying this theatrical take on everyday life, the three actresses, Isabelle Paternotte, Stéphanie Van Vyve and Nathalie Willame, deliver performances that are replete with freshness and authenticity, making this a play which challenges our own experiences with vigour.
THÉÂTRE CONTEMPORAIN
15/10, 20:00, en français, CAPE, www.cape.lu
MONOLOGUE
24/10, 20:00, en français, THÉÂTRE DES CAPUCINS, www.theatres.lu
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OKTOBER’14 CITY AGENDA LUXEMBOURG
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