Parisian spectacle

Press, 29 June 1983, Page 4

Parisian spectacle

Inter-Europe Spectacles, directed by Claude Beauclair at the Ngaio Marsh Theatre, June 28, 8 p.m. to 10.25 p.m. Reviewed by John Farnsworth. Judging the success of theatre from a different culture and performed in a different language is difficult enough. It is compounded if the audience’s reaction reflects their incomprehension as much as their indifference to the play before them. That was sometimes the case in this performance, particularly with the first two of the three pieces presented. This is the third visit in as many years by this Parisian company. On this occasion they chose three pieces by Rene de Obaldia, a playwright probably best known for “The Wind in the Branches of the typical of his work, thesd?

plays are founded on simple plots to combine a variety of elements including humour, irony, whimsy, and absurdity. In the first, “Le Defunt,” a widow discusses with her husband’s former mistress, his unbelievably lusty escapades which are eventually revealed to be pure fantasy on both their parts. It was brief, and, unlike the piece that followed, relatively easy to comprehend. This, entitled “Poivre de Cayenne,” concerned two convicts whose conversation ranges over a diversity of topics from their past lives to the weather to modern technology. However, not only were the speeches more rapid, but also incorporated French slang which had all but the most alert listeners baffled at times. Like the first piece, the acting was unsubtle, and

there was a tendency to shout, but shout unclearly. The final, the longest play, on the other hand rectified all these faults. Like the first piece, it concerned a wife' and former mistress who discuss in detail the man they are both attached to. He, meanwhile, has died in an accident and appears, invisible to them, as a ghost. The piece itself was better developed, with better characterisation and more subtlety. This was reflected in the performances and the direction, particularly in the sympathy between the two women (Francoise Mojeret and Muriel Menant) and during the ghost’s (Claude Beauclair) soliloquy. In short, the performance demonstrated that theatre, regardless of language, depends on more than the words.it is built from, and succeifed accordingly.