Dream and madness | A possessed Sébastien Ricard (8.5/10)

After its presentation at the International Festival of Literature last year, here is Dream and madness at the Théâtre de Quat’sous. This text by the Austro-Hungarian poet Georg Trakl is directed by Brigitte Haentjens. Alone on the set, the actor Sébastien Ricard shudders, trembles, explodes. Phenomenal!

The expressionist poet Georg Trakl died in 1914 at the age of 27 from a cocaine overdose while working as a soldier-pharmacist during the First World War. His most disturbing work, however, sheds relevant light on what affects humans who are suffering today, in Ukraine or elsewhere.

Humanity, which he repeatedly calls the “cursed race”, despaired the writer. However, it is of conflicts and inner torments that this text speaks in old-fashioned language, but as painful as a knife blade planted in the middle of a wound.

And even if the third person singular is used, everything refers to the sad fate of Trakl: authoritarian father, diaphanous mother and incestuous sister, called “demon”. It must also be said that Baudelaire, Verlaine, Rimbaud and Nietzsche were among his influences.

The play evokes a parallel world where the protagonist evolves at dusk in a forest full of animals that are sometimes harmless, sometimes frightening. But humans are far worse in this ill-furnished realm of castles and ruins. The strong images of the poet turn them into ghosts and specters.

This gives a theater of cruelty, like Antonin Artaud, where it is the body of the interpreter Sébastien Ricard who acts in synchronicity with the words.

At the beginning, the actor lies down on the ground, prey to violent spasms. He will then survey the scene with strange poses, vacillating, falling abruptly, while recounting nightmarish visions, probably under the influence of some drug like the cursed poet was.

Trance

This exceptional performance is so close to a trance that the actor seems possessed, evoking dreams as much as madness. It vibrates under the expert direction of Brigitte Haentjens, an accomplice from the start, who directed it, among other things, in Richard III at the TNM and in the equally difficult plays of Bernard-Marie Koltès.

The box that contains the ramblings of the character turns out to be just as dark. Behind, a curtain of thin strips of fabric hosts projections produced by Karl Lemieux: forests, rocks, water, in different shades of grey, black and white. Roger Craig-Tellier’s soundtrack revolves around low and cavernous notes.

This unique show lasts only 35 minutes, although it may seem longer as the material and texture are dense. And when Sébastien Ricard returns to salute at the end, we say to ourselves that, regardless of the duration, his performance would undoubtedly deserve a prize.

Dream and madness

By George Trakl, directed by Brigitte Haentjens With Sébastien Ricard

At the Quat’sous TheaterUntil October 7

8.5/10