Adaptation of a short youth text by the writer Robert Walser, the pond, by Gisèle Vienne, is a theatrical proposal that is subversive, disturbing, even unbearable… But perfectly mastered.
The scene opens with a messy teenage bedroom, with a small bed and seven large puppets strewn across the floor. A stage technician arrives. He removes each doll from the tray, one after the other, under techno music that vibrates at full volume! Then leaves all the room to the two actresses. They advance on the stage at a very slow pace, with gestures in slow motion, deconstructed, like a strange pantomime.
Adaptation of a short youth text by the Swiss writer Robert Walser, the pond by the French designer Gisèle Vienne (Jerk, The Ventriloquists Convention) is a theatrical proposition that is subversive, uncomfortable, at times unbearable… But perfectly mastered.
We are somewhere between dream and nightmare, in Fritz’s tormented brain. A teenager in crisis who plans, during a party at his house, a fake suicide by drowning in a pond. The play exposes the excesses of a dysfunctional family, a story marked by violence, incest, lack of love. “You don’t choose your family, but how you get rid of them”, Fritz will launch in the middle of the chaos.
PHOTO JEAN-LOUIS FERNANDEZ, PROVIDED BY THE FESTIVAL TRANSAMÉRIQUES
Adèle Haenel plays all the characters of young teenagers
Stunning Adele Haenel!
Adèle Haenel plays all the teenage characters, modifying her modulated voice on the mic. His lines mingle with the omnipresent sound environment, created by Adrien Michel, who did a remarkable job! We hear the actress breathing, sniffling, screaming… She slaps herself, chokes, writhes in pain. His suffering is palpable all the way to the back of the room: “I just want it to stop”, says the young Fritz, to free himself from his pain in living.
The talented actress, among others awarded for the film Portrait of the girl on fire, delivers here a stupefying number of actress!
His game is very physical, on the verge of a nervous breakdown, on the tightrope. At his side, Henrietta Wallberg is a strong, icy, enigmatic presence. She interprets the father and the mother with an assumed authority in her slightest movements. On the set, the contrast between these two actresses, one with blonde hair and abundant hair, the other with a tomboy, with his cap and sneakers, is perfectly assumed. The two performers are in unison in this twilight ballet, magnificently lit by the lights of Yves Godin.
PHOTO JEAN-LOUIS FERNANDEZ, PROVIDED BY THE FESTIVAL TRANSAMÉRIQUES
“Not wanting to be disturbed [par une œuvre]it’s also not wanting to think,” says Gisèle Vienne
We find in this show both a political gesture – a critique of patriarchy, social roles, among others – and a new scenic language. It is an uncompromising, unique production, driven by true creative freedom.
After the performance, during a meeting with the public and the artists, a spectator took the floor to say that he was “bothered” by the play, to the point of not knowing whether he liked it or not… Gisèle Vienne replied that she does theater precisely to destabilize people; to try to transform our “perception of the field of art”. Thanking him for his comment, she added, “Not wanting to be bothered [par une œuvre], it is also not wanting to think. »
An informed spectator is worth two.
the pond
Based on a text by Robert Walser. Direction and design: Gisèle Vienne. With Adele Haenel and Henrietta Wallberg. As part of the FTA.
Until June 3at Factory C