Friday night I took advantage of the “free” show at Le Grande Theatre, Le Chambre d’Isabella. It was one of the best nights I’ve had here, so far. I sat waiting for the show to begin I realized how little I knew what to expect. They called it a “modern comedic musical tragedy with contemporary dance.” The stage was littered with tables covered in ancient African artifacts. I wondered how they were going to dance.
After a few minutes, the writer presented himself and introduced the cast. Everyone, including the writer, was on stage at all times throughout the whole piece regardless of whether the character had been introduced yet or whether they had died; they were present and participating all the time. It was very existential and chaotic.
The story line is based on this one woman’s extraordinary life experiences. It starts with her parents and describes her childhood with specific memories played out between the two actors who play her mother and father and at other times she talked directly to them. The dialogue between them went back and forth between French and English with corresponding subtitles. At the same time there would be interpretive dance on another part of the stage. It was a sensual overload but made sense and really worked with the story. The dancing and singing were so amazing and I still have one of their songs stuck in my head. “Allons, allons, allons…we just go on… allons, allons, allons…”
This was truly an experience I wouldn’t have easily found in the United States. The story was so tragic but the actors presented certain situations with a comedic air, like when her lover shoots her in the arm.
It was so outrageously french, too. In the story she has an affair with her grandson who is in love with David Bowie, she believes her father is an African prince, and her parent’s relationship starts when her father rapes her mother. One of the actresses played her right brain, one her left. She’s left with all these artifacts in this room in Paris and becomes an anthropologist of African artifacts but she only gets to go to Africa for six hours in her lifetime. It was so tragic.
There were moments that felt like improvisation they were so genuine and organic. It was outrageous, scandalous, abstract, existential, and so original. I loved it so much and the rest of the audience (or those around me) seemed to love it, too.
