Collaborative theatre : the Théâtre du Soleil sourcebook / compiled and edited by David Williams ; new translations by Eric Prenowitz and David Williams.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Williams, David, 1957 June 4-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mnouchkine, Ariane, 1939-.

Théâtre du Soleil--History--Sources.

Théâtre du Soleil.

Mnouchkine, Ariane, 1939---Criticism and interpretation.

Mnouchkine, Ariane.

Theater--France--History--20th century.

Theater.

Experimental theater.

History.

Criticism and interpretation.

France.

Experimental theater--France--History--20th century.

Théâtre du soleil--History.

Theater--Production and direction--France--Paris.

Local Subjects:

Mnouchkine, Ariane.

Théâtre du soleil--History.

Theater--Production and direction--France--Paris.

Physical Description:

xviii, 258 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Other Title:

Théâtre du Soleil sourcebook.

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Routledge, 1999.

Summary:

Over the past thirty years Theatre du Soleil has become one of the most celebrated theater companies in Europe, and Ariadne Mnouchkine one of its best-known directors."Collaborative Theatre" is the first in-depth source book on the performance troupe, renowned as widely for its cutting edge theatrical production as its collectivist practices and ideals. Here critical and historical essays by theater critics from around the world are combined with essays by and interviews with members of Theatre du Soleil, past and present, to address the meaning of theater through examining five key plays by the company.

Contents:

Introduction: A grain of sand in the works: continuity and change at the Theatre du Soleil / David Williams x

1 Towards a popular theatre: 1789 (1970)

1.1 1789 at the Cartoucherie / Victoria Nes Kirby 3

1.2 The search for a language: From an interview with Ariane Mnouchkine / Emile Copfermann 16

1.3 Equal, but not identical: An interview with Ariane Mnouchkine / Irving Wardle 26

1.4 What is the difference? Collective creation and 1789: From interviews with members of the Theatre du Soleil / Emile Copfermann 30

1.5 Devising through improvisation: the storming of the Bastille / The Theatre Du Soleil 32

1.6 Devising a new scenography for each production / Guy-Claude Francois 36

2 The comedy of our time: L'Age d'Or (1975)

2.1 L'Age d'Or in performance / Christopher D. Kirkland 45

2.2 'A serene and violent celebration': a statement of intent / The Theatre Du Soleil 50

2.3 Towards a new form: From an interview with Ariane Mnouchkine / Denis Bablet 51

2.4 The individual and the collective: From an interview with Ariane Mnouchkine / the editors of Theatre/Public 59

2.5 Devising through improvisation: the construction site / Sophie Lemasson (Moscoso) 65

2.6 Improvisation and the mask: from Arlequin to Abdallah / Philippe Caubere 70

2.7 From mask to character: Salouha / Lucia Bensasson 77

2.8 Society can be unmasked with a mask / Erhard Stiefel 79

2.9 Transpositions and silhouettes: From an interview with Francoise Tournafond / Catherine Mounier 81

3 An apprenticeship with Shakespeare: Richard II (1981)

3.1 Performance as autopsy / The Theatre Du Soleil 89

3.2 Shakespeare's samurai / Colette Godard 91

3.3 Shakespeare is not our contemporary: An interview with Ariane Mnouchkine / Jean-Michel Deprats 93

3.4 Of loss and liberation: From an interview with Ariane Mnouchkine / Alfred Simon 99

3.5 Shakespeare is a masked text: From an interview with Georges Bigot and Philippe Hottier / Jean-Michel Deprats 105

3.6 The entire body is a mask: From an interview with Ariane Mnouchkine / Odette Aslan 109

3.7 Reinventing a true music for theatre: From an interview with Jean-Jacques Lemetre / the editors of Fruits 112

3.8 One must try not to lie: From an interview with Ariane Mnouchkine / the editors of Fruits 118

4 A modern passion play: L'Indiade (1987)

4.1 Medusa and the Mother/Bear: the performance text of L'Indiade / Judith G. Miller 131

4.2 A long passion / Helene Cixous 138

4.3 As if there were a limit to history!: From an interview with Ariane Mnouchkine and Helene Cixous / Gilles Costaz 143

4.4 Between poetics and ethics: an epic approach to reality: From an interview with Helene Cixous / Catherine Anne Franke, Roger Chazal 147

4.5 You must know who we are, and what we believe: An open letter from the Theatre du Soleil to the people of Israel 159

4.6 A lesson in theatre: A Mnouchkine workshop at the Soleil / Josette Feral 162

4.7 Building up the muscle of the imagination: An interview with Ariane Mnouchkine / Josette Feral 169

5 Myth and the contemporary: Les Atrides (1990-1992)

5.1 Ecriture corporelle and the body politic: Les Atrides / Sarah Bryant-Bertail 179

5.2 The space of tragedy: From an interview with Ariane Mnouchkine / Alfred Simon 186

5.3 The communion of suffering / Helene Cixous 195

5.4 The art of the symptom: From an interview with Ariane Mnouchkine / Odette Aslan 199

5.5 Leaving room for the others: From an interview with members of the Theatre du Soleil / Beatrice Picon-Vallin 202

Appendix The Theatre du Soleil: a chronology 224.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [231]-247) and index.

ISBN:

0415086051

041508606X

OCLC:

40599740