Through excerpts from three plays by Lorca, Dominique Serron stages a pitiless image of ancestral Spanish traditions weighed down by the rigid weight of patriarchal and matriarchal principles. A fresco teeming with characters and costumes.
No doubt the direction taken by the director is somewhat disconcerting since, without necessarily preserving the plot details of each play, she wants to highlight abusive behaviors of power, principles rigidified by time and religion, inclinations for revolt carried by unbridled violence. To achieve this, she alternately presents key moments from “ Bernarda Alba’s house “, of ” blood wedding ” and of ” yerma “.
The process is bountiful. The rhythm is intense. The whirlwind of the presence of multiple protagonists and therefore the passage from one role to another for a majority of actors is made legible thanks on the one hand to the costumes endorsed and on the other hand through a body work perfectly mastered. It is a real performance, in control as on stage, without fault which solicits the spoken and sung voice, the transforming gestures of external aspect.
The artists change characters as if by magic. We find them throughout the sequences playing disparate roles. The diversity of the costumes as much as their aesthetic unity reinforces an impression of coherent unity while leaving the impression of an individual freedom left to everyone to transform themselves, even to disguise themselves to give presence to asserted individualities even when they are is about ephemeral figuration.
Lorca’s word has not aged. She stays direct. She attacks prejudices, beliefs mixed with superstition, the tradition of patriarchal power and arranged marriages between families with the obligatory purpose of motherhood, the heaviness of the rules imposed by an omnipotent Church at that time, the codes of honor to avenge in blood if necessary. It highlights a feminine voice in latent revolt against the shackles that prevent living life.
It’s violent. It’s sensual. It’s poetic. A real theatrical show that occupies the space of the Baladins circus track, which takes advantage of the presence of the trailers to open up the stage space beyond the circular stage on which most of the performance takes place. The only criticism that will be issued is undoubtedly that of the length of the show which unnecessarily lengthens, after the intermission, a moment of karaoke of the traditional songs of the show, even if this integrates the spectators more.
As for those who would be confused by the interweaving of the scenes of Lorca’s three plays, they will be guided by the presence of a kind of ringmaster, the incarnation of a friend of the poet who recalls one or another anecdote of his life, looks back on his assassination by the Francoists, inserts snippets of history linked to this troubled period that Europe experienced at the time of the rise of fascism preparing for the Second World War.
Avignon off 2022 Plaine de l’Abbaye Villeneuve-lez-Avignon Marquee of the Baladins du Miroir 07>27 July 9:30 p.m. Duration 2:30 a.m.
Text: Federico Garcia Lorca
Adaptation and direction: Dominique Serron
On stage: Stéphanie Coppé / Elfée Dursen / Monique Gelders / Geneviève Knoops / François Houart / Sophie Lajoie / Virginie Pierre and (alternately) Irène Berruyer / Léonard Berthet-Rivière / Andreas Christou / Merlin Delens / Aurélie Goudaer / Florence Guillaume / Léa le Fell / Gaspar Leclère / Diego Lopez Saez / Géraldine Schalenborgh / Léopold Terlinden / Juliette Tracewski / Julien Vanbreuseghem / Coline Zimmer.
Composition, musical direction: Line Adam
Scenography, filmmaking: Laure Hassel
Costume designer: Christine Mobers
Video creation: Drop The Spoon / Jean-Luc Gason
Lighting designer: Xavier Lauwers
Light manager: Ananda Murinni
Sound and video management: Antoine Van Rolleghem
Stage management: Simon Gélard, Geneviève Knoops, Marie Nils
Technical direction: Xavier Decoux
Technical coordination: Abdel El Asri
Set design: Xavier Decoux / Baladins du Miroir
Costume design: Marie Nils, Sylvie Van Loo, Isabelle Airaud, Julie Beca, Laure Noremberg
Writing of the texts of the “Red Master”: François Houart
Assistant director: Léopold Terlinden, Elfée Dursen
Scenography assistant: Noémie Warion
Producer: Pascale Mahieu
Make-up creation: Julie Serron
Recordings, sound effects: Colin Burton
Percussion (alternately) Gauthier Lisein, Hugo Adam Piano Line Adam Violon (alternately) Aurélie Goudaer, Juliette Tracewski Film extras Lesly Briggs, Cyril Collet, Kevin Lerat, Alexia Lobo, Boris Veraeghen, Antoine Van Rolleghem, Xavier Decoux, Ananda Murinni, Simon Gelard, Marie Nils
General and artistic direction: Gaspar Leclère
Administration: Céline Wiertz / Laure Volglaire
Communication, video images: Cécile Pirson
Secretariat, reception of the public: Virginie Hayoit
Executive production, distribution: Baladins du Miroir / Laure Meyer
Project support in France Karinne Méraud – K Samka
Photos: Pierre Bolle, Laure Hassel, Florian Jeandel, Cécile Pirson
Presentation film, teaser: Florian Jeande