She sees everything. Hitler’s too-black moustache, inches missing from a barricade, an actor’s stumbling. She hears everything. The creaking of a pulley, the hasty entrance of music, the weariness of voices. From her chair installed in the middle of the stands, microphone in one hand and pen in the other, Ariane Mnouchkine observes what is happening on the stage of the Théâtre du Soleil. Nothing escapes him, neither the detail nor the broad shot. Would she have the perfect ear and eye? “I see, listen and believe what the actors are doing. If I don’t believe them anymore, something is wrong. So we need to stop and talk”, explains this attentive sentinel who does not hesitate to interrupt the work of a “Stop!” thunderous Then he relaunches in an imperious voice: “We’re starting? Silence! We’re starting. »
In sixty years of presence at the Cartoucherie du bois de Vincennes, in Paris, the director had never opened the rehearsal door to the press. We will cross this door week after week with other visitors: classes of high school students, passing friends or traveling companions, like the author. Helene Cixous. If the latter has not written songs for the band since then The castaways of madness’s hope (2010), however, is not lacking. Tips or corrections, she collaborates “in harmony” to collective creations.
Also faithful to the post, the students who came and returned by train from Burgundy, who, supervised by their French teacher, even slept in the premises. “Madame Mnouchkine, exclaimed one of them, even when the rehearsal is excellent, you still find problems to solve. » This apt definition of the director’s profession sparks hilarity. Tuesday 1er October, the day was fruitful. The mood is good. “Theatre is hard, but it’s fun”said the artist with a smile.
Hyperactive hive
Since September, in cold weather or bright sunshine, from early morning until nightfall, I have watched the making of the latest addition to the Sun band, Here are the dragons. First Period. 1917. Victory was in our hands. After six months of intensive collective training that began on 1er April, this “Great popular show inspired by real events” (according to the schedule) comes out of the forest to show himself to the public. Underpinned by historical events, carried by a strongly theatrical form, the fresco arises directly from current events: the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, February 24, 2022.
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