Cassandra

The principle of economy

by Alexandre Wong

N°47 May - June 2002

THE THEATRE GETS ITS CLAWS IN

(Image caption/ Drawing: Alexandre Wong)

Sadness and admiration. How can one not feel these two sentiments when faced with the work of playwrights, directors, actors, set designers and theatre managers who work with the means at hand, day by day, ignored by institutions and the media, in the uncertainty of being able to take over or create a new show, constantly balancing a deficit budget, alone in carrying an enterprise which they can no longer part with because it depends so much on their strength?

You often hear them say that there is an intrinsic need to do what they do, that they go ahead regardless, with or without glory. They assert themselves. It is in this self-affirmation that one perceives, not something to be said, a simple content to be poured out, but the conscious or unconscious desire to impose a lasting way of seeing which, precisely, cannot be said all at once without appearing a little thin.

Against all common sense, They persist in showing what they do and know how to do on obscure stages, in front of an audience that they themselves have convened, for periods that sometimes do not exceed three days. What is the point, in these conditions, of fighting, of showing what we cannot see? Unless we believe them to be modest and resigned, which they are not, just capable of preparing end-of-year celebrations, and therefore without ambition, and above all, without demands, it is hard to understand how they are not discouraged by the lack of interest (not to say contempt) in an adventure that is all the more perilous because they often have no logistical support behind them to lead it. To say that they have talent means nothing; to say that they are courageous is obvious. Comparable to the authors and directors of the big national and private stages, all they need is to exist.

Fabien Arca, Carlotta Clerici, Harold David, David Noir, Nathalie Saugeon, Adrien De Van: these authors and directors, although very different in their orientations, have at least that in common that they manage to show great rigour and coherence with the limited means at their disposal. This economy, this 'minimalism of means', in turn characterises a theatre which, far from seeking to hide its miseries or to display them in order to complain about them, makes use of its material poverty, opportunely and positively, in order to get to the heart of the matter, to bring out irreducibly theatrical elements.
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The latest creation by David Noir, "The Righteous Storythe legitimate heir of the previous one, "The Puritanscompared to its clone at the Théâtre de la Colline ('Asservissement sexuel volontaire' by Pascal Rambert), has at least that much to offer in that it owes no one a debt:
It feeds on its own fantasies and formulates its own criticisms without expecting anything from the institution, social recognition or the effects of fashion. The resulting self-sufficiency makes it resemble those wandering stars that attract to themselves what is in their path: an audience of informed people who share with the author and his actors common references drawn from the popular culture of their childhood (comics, manga, soap operas and TV shows, toys...), an audience that also engages in the same ideological struggles directed against the "everything is exchangeable" of the overliberal world. Forming a society in itself, needing only itself to exist, David Noir's theatre is the extreme application of the principle of economy.
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David Noir, on the other hand, by projecting his own person (his imagination and ideas) onto his audience, collectivises the practice of performance.
If there is a 'poor theatre', this poverty is the guarantee of its renewal.