Saturday, 1/10/09

The main entrance to the theater:

We finished off Saturday with a trip out to the banlieues (suburbs) of Paris to see an avant-garde production.  In contrast to many American cities where the theater districts are in the center of the city, many Parisian theaters are on the periphery of the city. However, they have had difficulty encouraging members of their local communities to attend productions.  Prof. Turk explained to us some of the ways that the theater we were visiting, théâtre2gennevilliers, has tried to engage the community – by inviting people to help build the stage sets, incorporating a laid back (but delicious!) restaurant, and working with local artists. I certainly found the entrance and lobby much less intimidating than other theaters I’ve been to. It was hard to judge whether or not the community’s involvement was increasing, but it was at least evident that théâtre2gennevilliers was making a big effort.

The outside of the theater:

The production was Sifters Dinge, a work by Henri Goebbels - a multimedia experience without actors. Literature excerpts, interviews, and international music were played over the loudspeaker, as four pianos moved around stage and were played electronically.  The stage was a complex mechanism complete with pools of water and shifting projection screens.  Most of us found the combined effect interesting, if a little too long (the whole production lasted about an hour). And, of course, each of our inner engineers was pleased when the audience was allowed to walk on stage and explore the machinery after the production!

E.L.

Exploring the intricate stage: