” Ah, one strives in vain to me shut your mouth ! “As the verse of Racine, delivered by Agrippina, mother of Nero, that sounds fair ! Close the mouth of a comedian ? Ask him to work with a piece of cloth placed over his nose and mouth ? There is little time, one, two months ago… this idea would have caused the misunderstanding. Today, the idea has turned into reality. To play, you must have the means to do so. And after all, no actor, nothing is impossible.
Robin Renucci, director and great actor (you remember, of course, of his role of doctor in A French village), mask grey covering, walks up to Nadine Darmon, flamboyant, Agrippina, who delights to dare still more and more in the role of this twisted power who sees his darling son escape him. Renucci encourages him to be even more threatening : “Yes, that’s it, advance towards him… Agrippina would be willing to give him a mandala ! “” I love, plays the actress, in general, it always tells me to do less. “
Mask tempered
But the mask ? “Ah there it is, it has to do with, but at its heart it is an obstacle like any other. “Moreover, we understand very well, nothing smothered in his diction, we may even forget that it is hidden. “Not me, she laughs ! because when we lose, we know why it is worn. The evidence… “She shows the hardened tissue :” Well, yes, the spatters… “It will change before its “next” Albine, played by Stephanie Ruaux, the enlace. Agrippina takes the head in his hands. At the end of the scene, the two actresses are hands to the gel.
Nadine Darmon (Agrippina) and Julien Tiphaine (Burrhus) rehearse a scene from “Britannicus” of Racine to the Trestles of France. © BHDès that each other, touch each other, and in the staging of Renucci the proximity between them is great, each one uses the gel. Several bottles are available on a table. Every time they take out of the rectangle of repetition, which is the only element of decoration, a carpet with tiling patterns, they remove their mask, each in their corner, isolated from the other. Distancing physical out “carpet” respected.
intimate Theater
“Our goal at we, Tréteaux de France, this is the 22 July, the date on which we have to play Britannicus,” says Robin Renucci. And since the first day of the déconfinement, we repeat here, the actors are placed in the rectangle, which is the only element of decor planned – and planned well before the crisis of the coronavirus ! –, the famous carpets. And we have not stopped a day. As before, this was the work to the table that we have conducted, via videoconference, moreover, quite efficient as a system ! I even continued to teach my classes with the first years of the Conservatoire supérieur of Paris in this way. From the beginning of the pandemic, with the national drama centres, of which I lead the association, but also with artists from the world of dance, circus, I insist on this side of college, we wanted to find solutions and think about the concept of the show : the industry, rooms 1 000 seats, the people who share the same armrest, all this already was a problem. The response should be crafted, at a more human scale. “
More human course, but play hidden in front of spectators scattered ? “I had already designed the show to a capacity of 80 people, an average intimate, because the pieces of Root will be played not in front of hundreds of people, but in front of the king and a score of courtiers. This is not like the Greek tragedy in the form of an amphitheatre. Our play space is quad front end, the audience surrounding the actors on four sides. This also, it was decided long ago, and it is found that the first two ranks will be naturally spaced out by several meters. There was nothing to change to our devices. “
Tariq Bettahar (Nero ) in the foreground and Julien Tiphaine (Burrhus) repeat, hidden, Britannicus by Racine © BH
The Britannicus of Racine is a story of passions, rivalries, pain, buried, which broke out during scenes vibrant with emotion. The body is touching, the hands grab, the faces are facing each other ! And the word and the voice should wear. “We must be heard with the masks, the accuracy of a consonant, a vowel. The ear causes the image… it’s the work, analysis Renucci. An effort with the mask will accompany the breath that runs 300 metres to the second, even if the sound is obstructed, the speed remains the same. The mask fatigue, it is necessary to get used to. “
The alexandrian is a support of game. The mask, a work support
So how do they do it ? First work the syntax is the same Root that can sing like a foreign language, for the senses permeates the form. The alexandrian will prove to he an ally or an enemy ? “The alexandrian replied one of the comedians, is a support of game. The mask, a work support. “And this will force the voice, and aménageront more breaks to spare the breath, focusing on a particular work on the diaphragm, the partition wall made of muscles, on which rests the respiratory system ? “The mask makes me think of this image of Usain Bolt training with weights, said Albine/Stéphanie Ruault. When you remove the mask stage, this will be like him when he was running for a championship : clear, precise. We have taken strength in having worked with a disability. “
At the beginning of rehearsals, all have had problems, “I still want to throw it,” said Julien Tiphaine (Burrhus). But it is a tool that must be mastered. We play with masks of cloth, that is better than the “surgical” which stick to the mouth during inspiration. It does not force otherwise you choke on it. “
Articulation and precision
Now, the director, after work on the intentions of the characters, their desires, guiding them, insisting on the articulation and accuracy. “Less deaf, more accurate,” he said to Tariq Bettahar (Nero), that’s it, we hear you better, yes, we hear all this… “” What, resumes Julien Tiphaine, is to extend the vowels, and rely on consonants. The mask is very disabling for the bass voices. “
And why not visors ? “Oh, no, this is not possible. The spatters are likely to pass by the sides. We may be of transparent masks such as those used by the hearing impaired. “But for these how to make with the fog ? Stephanie Ruaux suggests, laughing : “It will take ice cubes…” And adds more seriously : “we needed to somehow find a solution to return to work. The mask is an experience. “The double penalty, adds one of them, this will be the mask over the corset for the women who play Marivaux or other parts to costumes. “”No,” answered one of the actresses, the double punishment is to do all of this and not be able to play. “
In the framework of the festival Île-de-France, likes the theater, next to the parts that will be given, will be also workshops of initiation to the theatre for children and adults. “It will be necessary here also to apply the new rules. Make stress a game. Do not let muzzle even if wearing a muzzle. “
The Île-de-France, loves the theatre from 18 July to 30 August, on the islands of leisure of the Port aux Cerises, Cergy-Pontoise, and Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines. Shows and free workshops (01 55 89 12 59).
The program of the Trestles of France to find them here.
Consult our folder : Déconfinement : the puzzle
